


Kintsugi

by jehobvihosabi



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, Non-Linear Narrative, OT6, POV Multiple, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2019-10-27 21:25:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17774465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jehobvihosabi/pseuds/jehobvihosabi
Summary: Zuko looked up at the cloudless, idyllic sky.They say that relief comes after conflict, but Zuko felt nothing of the sort;he just felt exhausted.





	1. ACT I | Arrival — 到来

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Gaang gathers for the sixth annual victory summit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank Meabd, Silvia, and kuchi for all their help with this story ♡
> 
> [Meabd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meabd) \- for your patience, sincerity, and relentless enthusiasm.  
> Silvia \- for your insights on structure that I would never come across, naturally, on my own.  
> [kuchi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuchi) \- thank you so much for your kindness, your opinions, and encouragement.
> 
> I appreciate all the help more than you know.
> 
> * * *
> 
> 我中文马马虎虎的，所以如果你帮助我，我很高兴。谢谢。
> 
> * * *
> 
> Fair warning that with every new chapter posted, all earlier chapters also get updates.
> 
> If you’d like to track the writing progress or just chat with me: my [Pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.social/minium) account! ♡  
> I track the tag, [#金继修理](https://www.pillowfort.social/search/%E9%87%91%E7%BB%A7%E4%BF%AE%E7%90%86), there.
> 
>   
> 
> 
> ### Kintsugi Playlist [TBA] 
> 
> [Apple Music]() | [Spotify]()
> 
>  
> 
> ### Chapter Playlist
> 
> [Apple Music](https://itunes.apple.com/us/playlist/1-arrival/pl.u-xlyN6XkIoq8yzG) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0YXYJh30JvSPoPQ4z7jKXD)

 

 

 

◆

 

###  **ACT I**

 

◆

 

_“If there’s more than one way to do a job,_

_and one of those ways will result in disaster,_

_then somebody will do it that way._   _"_

_\--- Robert Murphy_

 

◆

 

 

 

 

 

 **Day 1 || 7AM** **— Zuko**

All he wanted to do was step back onto the ferry he had barely disembarked from and return to the Fire Nation. He may have done exactly that, but he felt his duty like a physical weight, inescapable, upon his shoulders.

It chained him to where he stood and Zuko paused in his stride. The first thing to strike was what was unignorable; when he naturally turned his head, he saw the sun high and full in the sky. The light from its rays stabbed Zuko’s eyes as if replicating a spotlight shining down solely on him, momentarily blinding him. He squinted through the sunlight impeding his vision.

This city, as much of a cornerstone for trade and politics as it was, never really changed. It was always shifting about, but its pillars persisted. The sturdiness of its walls, always in the periphery no matter where you went, lent an unyielding quality to the city; the same quality naturally found itself exhibited in its citizens. The stark divisions of wealth endured. A place defined by its walls; that was what he would find here. And he was finally here; he let out a breath and slumped in resignation at the thought.

People were rushing to and fro; some eagerly walking to their destinations, some milling about, and some going through the motions to check in or out. He soaked in the bustle around him. There was always a deluge of people rushing about; lively, always, but somehow stagnant at the same time. From the rich with their security and expensive silks to the poor with their weathered appearances and even to the merchant peddlers selling their wares, a huge mix of people had gathered; some of who paused to gawk at them. It was a crowd; noise impeding him from all directions, no respite from the hustle and bustle.

And he keenly felt anxiety that the ride had nearly banished come back; stronger than before, like a tide of negativity washing over. The cautiously optimistic feeling developed during the ride over had disappeared without a trace; flitting away as if nothing more than fantasy, a facade he had created to force himself into coming.

Toph’s voice roused Zuko from his rumination. “There’s nothing like feeling the sweet, sweet earth beneath your feet,” she sighed contentedly. She was wriggling her feet on the floor with an expression of utter bliss. Finding such an expression of unabashed delight disturbing, he didn’t hesitate to avert his eyes.

Her interruption timely reminded Zuko of his original goal before his thoughts began to consume him. “I’ll have to take your word for it,” he replied, searching the landing. Despite the thick, concentrated masses, his uncle was always easy to locate. He, more than anyone else Zuko knew, stood out amongst a crowd.

He began a beckoning gesture to Toph and then stopped suddenly, rubbing his neck. “Come on, let’s go,” he said instead. His uncle had moved quite aways ahead of them, but Zuko and Toph quickly caught up to the rest of their party, and Zuko took his rightful place by his uncle’s side.

His uncle noticed their approach immediately and visibly brightened. He started up his chatter from a point before they had lost sight of each other, “Nephew! Isn’t it refreshing to be back? I always take great pleasure from our visits here.” He looked about, his eyes keen.

While Zuko could respect his uncle’s adoration of this city, it would always be the place of his greatest failures. He would permanently live with the shame of the decisions he had made here; the shame was like a cloak and it choked him with every second he spent in this city. It was as if just returning to the city, itself, reverted Zuko into the confused and angry— he had always been _so angry_ — teenager he used to be.

He made sure that the sombre musings that were taking place in his head didn’t reflect outwardly. He didn’t want to rain on his uncle’s enthusiasm. He let his uncle go on and on about the trip as they moved further into the receiving center and checked in. He nodded and smiled at the appropriate points, of course, but contributed nothing of his own thoughts.

An attendant swiftly approached them and stopped in front of Iroh. Iroh paused his animated chatter and turned to the approaching stranger. Zuko silently thanked the gods; he had been nearing the limits of his patience. “I would like to humbly welcome you all to the great city of Ba Sing Se. We are honored by your presence,” the attendant bowed deeply and took his time to straighten. “If you wait a moment, I will fetch someone to escort you to your destinations,” he finished speaking and moved to leave.

“That is not necessary,” Uncle said and clapped the boy on the shoulder; halting his escape. At this action, the attendant stiffened like a cornered cat. "The slight breeze is a gift on this humid day; wasting it would be a travesty, a scenic walk around seems appropriate. Wouldn't you agree?" Uncle Iroh asked rhetorically.

The attendant moved to answer but was cut off by Uncle before he could say anything further, “Just some directions and we’ll be on our way,” Uncle was smiling cheerily.

At this point, the attendant was wringing his hands looking deeply distressed. “Um, that’s really not protocol, sir,” he nervously stammered out. He appeared as if a stray breeze would knock him right over _and Iroh was no gentle breeze_.

“Nonsense. We don’t require a guide and we are not in need of any security.” Uncle Iroh smiled and gestured to the entire retinue that was trailing a respectable distance behind them. The attendant looked like he wanted to argue, but then Zuko gave him a stern look. He stiffened even further, widened his eyes in alarm, and ultimately caved. Zuko applauded him for not folding immediately. The attendant bowed again;  giving them well-wishes on their trip, and then hastily escaped.

Zuko privately thought the whole exchange had been hilarious, but his manners prevented him from saying so; Toph had no such reservations. “Wow, Pops, you really steamrolled that guy,” she pointed out idly, scratching at her armpits.

Zuko’s palm met his face and his uncle only laughed. “It was not my intention to do so,” Iroh said, mirth clear in his voice. 

Uncle Iroh started walking in the direction of the exit and everyone followed suit except for Toph. Zuko looked at Toph standing still and his uncle getting further away and made a decision. He made his way towards his blind friend; they would have to catch up later.

Toph had her arms crossed. She was lightly tapping her foot on the floor in a rhythmic motion. He watched her foot bounce. “What is it?” he asked, knowing she had a reason for staying behind.

Her foot stilled. “I wanted to talk to you. Alone,” she stated plainly. He studied her and raised a brow.

 

◆       ◆       ◆ 

 

 **Day 1 || 8AM** **— Sokka**

Under the sweltering heat, Sokka practised routine. His awareness wholly focused on his own limbs, his exhaustion, and his drive;  satisfaction from steady improvement and well-practised movements thrumming through his veins.

Filling his lungs deeply, Sokka struck his sword forcefully downwards. The air left in a harsh hiss. He slowly, _purposely slowly_ , lifted his arms until the apex point pierced the blue, limitlessly blue sky stretching out a vast horizon above. He held it there a moment; it was a moment of stillness for him, where he was one and everything made sense. The moment suspended itself in-between one breath and the next. Sokka lowered his arms, unhurriedly coming back down to earth.

In defiance to the slow movements of before, he jabbed his sword swiftly, powerfully through the empty air stretching out before him; the wind it cleaved through audibly gave way. Sokka paused for only a single beat before deftly pivoting his wrist and elbow together anti-clockwise, striking downwards. He held that pose for a moment and then returned to a neutral stance. He then looked skywards once more; the position of the sun in the sky had quickly climbed; it was probably already time.

At this stage in his morning practice, Sokka had worked up quite a sweat, but he still committed himself to completing his cool-down katas. He put himself through the paces but unusually took his time with each set, intent on getting each effort just _so_ when he usually would have aimed for efficiency. Sokka, when he felt the easiness sink into his frame, ended his routine. He walked through the garden until he came upon the place he had left his towel. He picked it up and mopped at his dripping face, dropping down to settle on a nearby boulder, his limbs collapsing in a graceless heap.

Sokka had been steadily relaxing when going through his katas; but now that he had finished, reality had once again reasserted itself. It had only been a couple of minutes, but already he was growing tenser by the minute. And despite his current lack of exertion, his heartbeat refused to slow and his sweating only grew worse. He could feel his face setting itself into lines as he continued to ineffectually mop at the perspiration on his brow.

He crossed his arms over his shoulders and shivered. Now that he wasn’t in the middle of his training, he could feel the chill in the air and the wind that had felt pleasant before was now screaming the opposite effect.

Sokka sucked on his bottom lip in thought. He stood, wrapping the towel around his neck. Following the paved trail leading out of the private practice field, he headed back to the villa, his feet dragging all the way.

◇

**Day 1 || 9:30AM**

He smoothed down his clothing, the silk of the newly bought top sliding smoothly underneath his fingers. He spritzed on a neutral fragrance, careful not to add too much; sniffing the air around him, he nodded in satisfaction. Then he slowly, ever so slowly, glanced up to what was awaiting him— all this time, always on the fringes of his awareness— the mirror.

Sokka, all while carefully checking his reflection, ran an evaluating hand over freshly shaven skin. The face that stared back looked young… too young to be sitting where Sokka was right now. He hastily stamped down the feeling and focused on scrupulously applying the pigment coating the fingers of his opposite hand. Traditional markings revealed themselves on his skin, some of them common, but most of them new to him, recently handed down. He finished and couldn’t look away from the figure staring back; his reflection commanded respect, like everything Sokka had always wanted to grow up to be. But he couldn’t help the alienation; it just didn’t ring true. It was who he wanted to be, but it wasn’t who he was.

This was the first year that he was on his own representing the Southern Water Tribe and he had focused so much on looking the part, yet he didn’t _feel_ it. Sokka had always known that he would be the next Chief, but never had the reality seemed more real to him than it did right at this moment. The responsibility given to him weighed on his shoulders heavily. He made a face at his reflection; worried that everyone would be able to see right through him even with the fancy silks and markings he disguised himself through, a mask he had inadvertently created. When he looked at himself, all he saw was Sokka, not Sokka, the future Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, just… _Sokka_.

“You know, with all the effort you’re going through for your appearance, you could stand to actually comb your hair for once in your life,” Katara commented from the doorway.

Sokka startled and fell off the stool he was sitting on. “How long have you been standing there!” he screeched, scrambling to his feet.

“How long have you been staring at your own face?” Katara mocked.

“Katara!” he shouted, unable to articulate anything beyond his sister’s name. His face was flushed with embarrassment. Katara only looked back at him with unrepentant amusement.

He frowned at her and she gave a quelling look back in response and moved further into his room. “You look fine. Stop worrying so much. You’ve been to plenty of these things with Dad before. Besides, I’ll be there. If you mess up, I’ll rescue you. I promise,” she winked and then moved closer to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Whatever, Katara,” Sokka replied, secretly more reassured, and shrugged her off. “We should start heading over. I have to be there early to help with some things,” he added, hoping to end the conversation.

“Lead on, Chief Sokka,” intoned Katara in a faux-official voice. Apparently, she was just going to keep on teasing him. Sokka grumbled back but led the way out of their villa.

 

◆       ◆       ◆ 

 

 **Day 1 || 9:30AM** **— Iroh**

Iroh noticed the unusual quiet of his retinue, the rigidness of their posture, and other details that revealed them to be ill at ease. It reminded him of the state of his dear nephew earlier, the brave face Zuko had donned couldn’t hide his strain. At least, not from him. Because Iroh knew; _Iroh always knew_ when it came to the wayward prince.

Normally he would have tried for conversation; in this environment, however, he only looked upon the landscape— his expression the very definition of placidity. The stroll to their destination was blanketed by this tension; the choking silence commenced and didn’t ebb. Stifling air seeping around him, Iroh walked on casually.

As he approached journey’s end: the villa that had been provided for their stay, a familiar green-clad figure came into view. She was quite a distance from him one moment, but the next… Ty Lee was suddenly in front of him. Iroh blinked; a little taken aback, but he quickly composed himself.

As his surprise wore down, Iroh felt genuinely happy to see her; a smile lit up his face. “Firelord Iroh! How was your trip?” Ty Lee was quick to ask him excitedly.

He stepped into a hug and answered, “It was very calm. I saw some truly beautiful sights on the way, but none compare to the beauty of the city itself.”

She clasped her hands under her chin and smiled sunnily. “That’s great to hear!” she exclaimed and then her smile dimmed a little. “Too bad I can’t stay too long, but I can still give you a tour if you’d like?” she offered.

“That sounds splendid,” he returned, pleased.

Ty Lee bounced up and down quickly and then leaned forward to clasp his hands. “Come on! It’s really pretty,” she said. Iroh only chuckled and let himself be led.

 

◆       ◆       ◆ 

 

 **Day 1 || 10AM** **— Katara**

"Come on Katara! What are you looking around for? It's not like we don't see the same scene every year or anything," Sokka said sarcastically, trying for the attentions of his sister. However, his efforts fell on deaf ears because Katara was miles away.

Her body felt light, a buzzing along her nerves, a cacophony of sensation assaulted. She was valiantly trying to ignore the fluttering frenzy. She looked around distractedly, her view landing on a small girl. The girl was excitedly pointing to something and tugging on her mother’s sleeve— urgency shown in its antsiness. What the girl desired was a stuffed bear, which her mother swiftly bought for her. The girl clapped her hands rapidly together and eagerly grabbed the toy bear, hugging it to herself and then her mother tightly. Katara saw this display and her feelings coalesced into a deep sense of warmth.

All of a sudden, she heard her brother's loud shouts a few feet ahead and turned. How could she not have heard him before! People had their heads turned in their direction, staring at their display. She quickly caught up to her brother to prevent further embarrassment. "Would you quiet down! I'm right here!" Katara hissed.

"I've been calling your name for five minutes, Katara! I have a schedule that says we're already twenty minutes late! What's the point of slaving over schedules if you people are incapable of following them! I swear…," Sokka had gone from yelling at her to muttering to himself in frustration.

Katara smiled. At least Sokka was never going to change, she thought, her mood improving. She moved forward and hugged him on impulse. Sokka stopped his tirade and looked at her suspiciously, probably wondering at her abrupt change in mood. Still, he returned the embrace.

 

◆       ◆       ◆ 

 

 **Day 1 || 11AM** **— Zuko**

Zuko ambled up to a Fire Nation soldier on guard with Toph shadowing his footsteps. He wasted no time. “Have you seen my uncle?” he asked.

“I believe that the Firelord is inside the kitchen, your highness.” the guard replied, bowing.

“Thank you,” Zuko said, nodding at the guard. Toph started heading inside and Zuko followed suit.

As soon as they came through the entryway, Zuko realized that he had miscalculated the sheer size of the residence; the way it looked from the outside was deceptive. “This villa is bigger than I expected. I kind of regret not asking the guard where exactly the kitchen was,” Zuko remarked, scratching his head. He turned on his heel to get a measure of the room and counted four doorways in the entryway alone.

“He’s around the corner and then a couple of doors down,” Toph replied, already heading in that direction.

“How did you… oh right,” Zuko trailed off sheepishly and followed.

They entered a spacious room with a kitchen that looked like it had never before been touched. “Ah, there you two are. I was starting to worry,” Iroh called from where he was behind a counter. “How do you like the villa?” he asked.

Toph and Zuko ventured further into the room. "Anything is better than the stuffiness that is the Fire Palace, Pops. But I do really like the place from what I’ve seen of it so far," Toph replied relaxing into a chair.

“We’ve seen like a hallway and a grand total of two rooms,” Zuko huffed.

“Then take my word for the rest of the place being just as nice,” Iroh said. He turned Zuko’s way when Zuko grew near and held out his arms expectantly. Zuko took the obvious cue and hugged him.

When he stepped back, Zuko saw numerous pots in use, all bubbling away happily. A myriad of teapots and cups were clustered together on the counters before Iroh. He took it all in and then moved to help.

“What’s all that tea for? I hope you’re not going to drink it all yourself?” Toph asked curiously.

“It’s for the guards that came with us. Tea is best enjoyed with others and I suppose being in Ba Sing Se has me feeling nostalgic,” Iroh shared conspiratorially.

Zuko, who had been reviewing his uncle’s handiwork during their exchange, spoke up, “...Uncle, you’re using white dragon bush to make this tea.” His uncle directed a puzzled look his way. “... _this is poisonous_. Where did you even—” he exclaimed and then halted his speech to run a hand down his face in exasperation.

Iroh looked baffled. “I picked these just today. I could have sworn…” he rubbed at his chin while peering into one of the biggest pots looking down upon the poison he had unwittingly created.

Zuko turned to regard the amused face of his blind friend, “Not one word.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” she replied, the huge smirk plastered on her face running contrary to her innocent statement; Zuko didn’t even bother.

“I’ll get a guard and we’ll… start over,” Zuko said.

◇

**Day 1 || 11:30AM**

The birds were chirping and the sun had cooled off in intensity. By all accounts, it should have been a pleasant walk and it was, for everyone who wasn’t Zuko.

“I, for one, could definitely use some entertainment. I swear the few days I spent at the Fire Nation Palace felt more like weeks. Also, it’s just so nice to have a vacation for once. We never really take the time to just sit around,” Toph said.

Iroh laughed in amusement. “You couldn’t find anything to entertain yourself with in the entire city?” he questioned.

“I don’t think plays, operas, or whatever are my style. I got enough of it growing up. And the last thing I want to do is spend too much time in the presence of those stuffy nobles,” Toph said dismissively.

Iroh laughed heartily and then sobered. “Well, we weren’t resting on our end either. Preparing for this year’s summit was a gruelling experience. I don’t think I ever even left the council chambers except maybe to rest. We were so busy; we even had our meals there. It’s so refreshing to have left Fire Nation soil; it’s like the worries of that land don’t follow me to this one. It feels wonderful to be able to relax,” shared Uncle Iroh.

"Uncle, we can't relax yet. This isn’t a vacation for us. We have all the meetings to attend lest you forget," Zuko made sure to remind his uncle.

"I haven’t forgotten. I can still enjoy the walk to the main hall before I have to deal with those matters you know, especially when it’s such a beautiful day like this. It’s important to enjoy the little things. It's about the journey and not the destination, Prince Zuko," Uncle quipped.

Zuko didn't agree. No matter how light the atmosphere around them was, he couldn't ignore how crucial the meetings this year would be for his nation. He felt envious of the easy air around the others. He wished that he could unwind even just a bit, but he couldn't help tensing up more and more the closer they got to the Palace. The cloud of dread that had arisen when he arrived at this city was growing thicker by the minute and it threatened to swallow him at every turn.

 

◆       ◆       ◆ 

 

 **Day 1 || 12PM** **— Suki**

“You can both join the Southern contingent?” Suki stated more than asked and the Fire Nations soldiers nodded in compliance, moving to their assigned posts. Suki was finishing up giving orders to the Fire Nation soldiers who had just arrived when Ty Lee approached her. "Oh, Ty Lee! Great timing. Do you have a report?" she turned and asked the other warrior.

Ty Lee straightened. "Yep!" she replied exuberantly. "All diplomats, leaders, and important guests scheduled to arrive by this time are accounted for," she reported and saluted smartly.

"Good to hear. Well done, Ty Lee," Suki said.

"Of course, Captain!" Ty Lee basked in the praise. Suki laughed at Ty Lee’s boundless enthusiasm.

She waved Ty Lee towards her. "Come with me. I'm going to give everyone their rotation assignments for when the meetings officially start," Suki waited for Ty Lee's agreement and then they went together to communicate with the other Kyoshi Warriors.

A strong wind went past and Suki shielded her face. The winds were picking up and Suki was growing troubled.  It was growing colder as well; she could feel the chill despite her heavy warrior garb. She was going to have to keep an eye out. A storm was beginning to brew.    

 


	2. ACT I | Return to the Palace — 回宫

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> ### Chapter Playlist
> 
> [Apple Music](https://itunes.apple.com/us/playlist/2-just-a-shit-ton-of-politics/pl.u-GgA5oXVfxg0m6D) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7dm6Fi1qtfCCWLPSQloezh)

**Day 1 || 12:10PM** **— Zuko**

The Palace came into view. Zuko regarded the high, imposing red walls and sank deeply into contemplation. Emotions buried deep inside him, usually dormant, boiled to the surface; fighting to be released. His head was a mess; _this place made him a mess_.

It was the center of an important crossroads in his life. So many crucial moments took place right here in front of his eyes. It felt so, _so_ surreal being here. Because in some ways, Ba Sing Se had made him the prince he was today. This place had become an almost mythical existence in his mind— a shrine to all his greatest failures.

During the period he lived in this city, Zuko had been lost in a sea of confusion and uncertainty. He had been confused. He hadn’t known what he had wanted. He had no idea what he had to do to reach his goals or what those goals even were. His confusion and indecision had led to so many mistakes he fervently wished he could take back. If he had been more decisive…

Nevertheless, it was quite amazing that he ended up on the path that he had originally planned for himself: as the Crown Prince and future Firelord of the Fire Nation. What his younger self would have done to be in the position that he was in right now... yet he strangely found himself envying that same younger self.

He missed how open-ended his life had once seemed, full of possibilities and paths. He could’ve done anything, been anyone. Zuko missed those simple days where his only worry was his quest to regain his honor. He missed the open road and the lack of responsibility. This wasn’t the first time he looked on his days as the banished prince with an ironic amount of longing and it likely would not be his last. In some ways, Zuko had been freer then.

Zuko forcefully shook himself off this train of thought and appraised the Palace before him again. There were people from all walks of life milling about the front. Zuko’s favourite thing about the era of peace was the mingling of the peoples of the world. Seeing people of all nations in one place warmed his heart. It was proof to him that the world had truly changed. That the effort that was being put into repairing the war-torn world was paying off. This is what he had wanted. This is what he had strived to create and now it was this peace he wanted to protect above all else.

Several people were gazing their way; identifying them as Fire Nation Royalty and decorated war heroes, their observers bowed respectfully as they passed. The main courtyard before the palace was immense, but even it was teeming with the thick throng. The swarm grew denser and denser the closer they got to the Palace; there truly was always a remarkable number of people congregating at the Summit. Sometimes Zuko forgot the scale of this annual event and only remembered again when it was staring him in the face as it was currently.

It felt like an eternity before they even made it to the steps, their stride slowed by the masses. And then they were before the doors. Toph halted her stride. “Well the walk here was fun, but this is as far as I’m willing to go. I’ll see you all later,” she said and they parted sharing their own goodbyes. “Good luck,” she called casually over her shoulder.

Zuko grimly smiled; they would need it.

 

◆       ◆       ◆ 

 

 **Day 1 || 12:30PM** **— Katara**

Katara cursed her bad luck. The Earth King was already moving towards her. She looked around trying to find an escape route, but couldn’t spot one in time to prevent the encounter.

"You look as lovely as ever, Katara. It’s so nice to run into you," Kuei said pleasantly.

Katara grit her teeth determined to participate in the conversation despite really not wanting to. "Same to you, of course. We have not seen each other for many moons. How are things in the Earth Kingdom?" she queried while quieting the impulse to 'accidentally' step on his foot.

She giggled at the image that that thought had provoked. "I didn't realize that immigration disputes were so amusing?" Kuei said coolly. Katara realized her mistake quickly, but she didn't get as far as she had by being slow on her feet.

She looked around and saw that her brother had appeared during the time she had been talking to Kuei. "My brother over there nearly knocked into another delegate and I simply found it amusing. Please excuse my momentary inattention," she said while bowing.

"I suppose," Kuei replied dubiously while raising his eyebrows.

"Also, excuse me once more because I must take my leave. I promised to discuss certain matters with him before the start of the meeting," she said. She could tell he was about to respond, so she left before he could say something that would prolong the conversation.

Katara rushed to where she had spotted Sokka and saw him talking to their grandfather. She moved to join them. “Katara! How nice it is to see you!” Her former master exclaimed. She smiled and moved in for a hug.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

 **Day 1 || 12:45PM** **— Iroh**

In the large meeting hall, the people sauntered and swayed in, to the untrained eye, formless, arbitrary patterns, but to those experienced in these dances, to those who participated themselves, they were anything but casual. It was a tense waltz, shown through artful smiles, glitzy glamour, and pretty words.

Iroh had had enough. He was searching for anyone who he could hide out with for the remainder of the time he wasn’t due to head inside. He almost reached the point of despair before he spotted a familiar hunch and moved towards it. As he neared, he noticed not just Bumi, but several other members of The White Lotus gathered together in a loose semi-circle.

"Ah, it warms my heart to see so many familiar faces this year," Iroh greeted everyone genially. The group brightened when they recognized the presence of the Grand Lotus.

Bumi turned to him with a broad smile on his face. "I wouldn't miss it for the world. And I can't since I have to be here!" he said and then launched into his distinctive cackle.

“Don’t we all, old friend?” Iroh also started to laugh. Their shared glee was infectious and many others started laughing as well. He had missed this particular group of people more than he had realized.

Piandao handed him a refreshment and spoke, "How are things back at the Palace? I haven't had the time to visit lately."

Iroh took the glass and drank before replying. He debated what to say. He settled on something vague, "The state of affairs is currently very complicated. We will not have an easy summit this year. We’ve worked arduously preparing, but I fear backlash." Piandao frowned. He looked concerned but did not prod further.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

 **Day 1 || 12:40PM** **— Sokka**

“How are things with you, grandfather?” Katara asked as she stepped out of the hug. Sokka noted that he looked happier at seeing his sister than he had him.

Pakku was rubbing his chin and seemed to be deep in thought, seriously considering her question. "It’s interesting. Currently, I have the largest class that I’ve ever had. It seems our people have grown in size greatly,” Pakku commented. “It’s remarkable how the Southern Water Tribe was only a collection of igloos just a few years ago. To have become what it is in such a short amount of time...” he seemed to be in a nostalgic mood.

He wasn’t wrong. To compare the Southern Water Tribe of years past and the one that existed now... they were wildly different places. Thinking about his village’s accomplishments erupted a fierce flash of pride in Sokka’s heart.

“I loved seeing our village grow and a lot of that is thanks to Sokka,” Katara proudly proclaimed with a hand on his shoulder.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Sokka protested. He was rubbing the back of his head. True, he had played a part in expanding the South Pole by leading the reconstruction efforts, but he had had a considerable amount of advice and guidance as well. His father definitely had played a huge role in shaping the new Southern Water Tribe. To attribute most of the credit to him was grossly misleading.

“Don’t be so modest! Just the innovations you created alone advanced our tribe significantly,” Katara said, raising her eyebrows at him. All the praise coming his way was making him feel deeply embarrassed.

“If we didn’t have all those former northern clansmen join us, then none of it would have been possible in that amount of time,” Sokka pointed out.

“Those clansmen wouldn’t have been useful if they didn’t have your detailed plans guiding them,” Katara pointed back. “And! Don’t forget your forging of the Northern-Southern Alliance. Where would we be without that agreement? Not as far as we are now,” she added triumphantly.

“You did most of the leg-work on that if I remember correctly,” Sokka said stubbornly, trying to be fair.

Katara got closer to him. “Sokka, please just shut up and let me talk you up to grandad,” she hissed in his ear.

◆       ◆

 **Day 1 || 1PM** **— Sokka**

They approached the shimmering, golden doors. They stopped in front and Sokka turned his head to regard the waterbender accompanying him.

“I bet we’re the last ones to arrive,” Sokka commented casually. “We wouldn’t have been if you had taken the bathroom break when I originally planned us to in the schedule I made for today. You know, the one you have no respect for,” he continued just as casually.

“Would you quiet down about your stupid schedule, Sokka? I can’t believe you’re still pencilling in bathroom breaks,” Katara put her hands up, exasperated. “And it’s not like we’re late. We’re actually right on time,” she said, gesturing at the doors.

“We would have been early—,” Sokka started.

“If we followed your schedule. I know, Sokka!” Katara finished for him annoyed, throwing her hands up.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

 **Day 1 || 1:30PM** **— Zuko**

In a gilded room centering on a table circular in shape, sat the most powerful figures in the world. They were currently arguing.

"I'm afraid we will have to withdraw some of our support in that regard," Uncle said.

"That's unacceptable! These reparations are your sworn duty," a delegate from the Northern Water Tribe spoke.

Zuko smothered his instinctive reaction to stare down the delegate and reply something appropriately scathing. Instead, he took a breath and said, "We've been paying them for more than half a decade now, which is past the agreed upon terms. I do not think it is unreasonable for us to start providing less aid. We could have stopped by now, but we decided to continue as a gesture of goodwill."

“Be that as it may, it does not even come close to making up for all the devastation _your_ nation caused the world,” the delegate spat back. She may as well have not heard anything Zuko had said, blinded by emotion as she was.

Zuko wanted so badly to bang his head against the table. Dealing with these kinds of people was depressingly common for them. His hand ruffled through his hair. He wasn’t surprised; he had expected this very reaction. The Fire Nation was on thin ice with the other powers of the world and could not afford to make any mistakes politically. It was a very tricky line to walk.

“Ying Yue, I think you’re going too far. I believe Firelord Iroh and Prince Zuko are being very reasonable here,” Sokka cut in. “The Fire Nation has done everything to help whenever aid was needed and have made their good intentions known.” Thankfully, the Northern Water Tribe delegate seemed like she was listening to Sokka. ‘ _Probably because it came from a Water Tribe, read non-Fire Nation, source_ ,’ a very Toph sounding voice thought in Zuko’s head. He was _definitely_ spending too much time with her if he was even hearing her in the privacy of his own thoughts.

Yet, the delegate did not back down, even if she seemed somewhat mollified. “Ying Yue, while I see your point, I have to agree with Prince Sokka. The Fire Nation is now our ally and has demonstrated nothing to indicate otherwise. They’ve fulfilled their duty and their wish to stop paying reparations is well within their rights,” Chief Arnook said while resting a hand on the delegates’ wrist. Probably a silent plea for her to sit down.

He was grateful for Sokka’s interjection. The Northern Water Tribe delegate had given space for others to make similar objections, but if they said as such now they would be going against the wishes of both Water Tribe Leaders.

As soon as the delegate sat back, Katara shifted the conversation back to the matter at hand. “I agree with my brother and Chief Arnook. It is unfair to expect the Fire Nation to contribute past the agreed upon time, but changing budgets will not be so simple. We will need to ease into it,” she began.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

 **Day 1 || 2:30PM** **— Sokka**

Briskly walking away from the chambers they had just departed, Sokka let out a sigh of relief. The Assembly of Leaders Meeting was over at long last and he was exhausted. The room had been high-tension and the stress of maintaining his Tribe’s position wore at him. He had thought that coming as his father’s support had been difficult and draining, but it was nothing compared to the position of being the leader. Sokka was glad that it was over and he was already mentally groaning at having to go to the meetings continuously all throughout the week. It was no enigma why his father had foisted this upon him the first chance he got, though Sokka couldn’t say he had hated it. Exhausting as it was, Sokka had found it strangely enjoyable.

He moved to check up on his sister and saw that she was walking by his side silently. Her eyes were staring into the distance and she was on edge, focused. He knew not to interrupt her when she was like this. He said nothing, lending only his silent support.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

 **Day 1 || 3:00PM** **— Katara**

Katara breathed in deeply to center herself and then resolutely walked into the amphitheatre. The walls were dizzyingly high and the seats full; she tried to not let it get to her. She had done this many times before and she would many times again. It was this thought that grounded her.

She made her way to her place. The International Review Council sat before her. She took in their regal bearing and dispassionate expressions. Katara absently swept her hair back. Her grandmother winked at her from her seat and Katara smiled back. She was ready.

The head councillor made a gesture and the room quieted, focusing on a central point— her. “I’m sure no introduction is necessary here; it’s a pleasure to have you before my stand, ambassador. You can begin at any time,” the audience had given the attention and then the councillor gave her the floor.

“As you all know, waterbending is the only style of bending capable of healing,” Katara began. “I believe that The Water Tribes should share this gift with the world,” she paused to let the audience and council-members digest her premise and then she continued passionately, “If we had waterbending healers present in all the nations, think of all the lives that could be saved. If there was even just one center for healing in Ba Sing Se, so much suffering could be prevented. I believe that healing centers staffed with capable waterbending healers located in all the major cities of the world would do an incredible amount of good.”

Katara surveyed the room. Everyone was paying rapt attention to her. She smiled. She knew she had them. She mentally prepared herself and continued, “As a master of the healing arts, I believe I should oversee this venture. Now, as for what I would need…”

◆

**Zuko**

Katara was really in her element: giving an impassioned speech that had spectators on the edges of their seats. Zuko was utterly entranced. She had this quality about her that made people actually stop and listen to her; an ability that Zuko envied, but mostly admired. Her proposal was excellent and the council and other audience members were all taken in. Several people’s faces were completely slack, eyes looking like they could really envision the future that Katara was describing.

The head councillor in this particular case was Mai. It wasn’t immediately obvious to those that didn’t know her, but she was actually sincerely invested in what Katara was saying. Zuko was happy. Katara was brilliant and if anyone could make this proposal a reality, it was her.

◆       ◆

 **Day 1 || 3:15PM** **— Katara**

Katara was anxiously waiting for the review board to come back and officially proclaim their decision. It felt like waiting for an eternity to pass before the committee finally retook their seats. Katara eagerly leaned forward to listen to their verdict.

"Well, Ambassador Katara Water Tribe, your proposal is thorough and I believe this is something that will certainly revolutionize the world. It’s also an exemplary example of how the Four Nations stand to benefit from each other. You have the full support of the council behind you," intoned Councilwoman Mai. Katara’s heart soared. "The proposal has been approved unanimously. The funding aspect will be reviewed by our treasurer and we will call you in a couple of days to discuss how to move forward. Congratulations, Ambassador, and thank you for your time."

"Of course, ma'am. If that will be all?" Katara said as calmly as she could while she mentally cheered. She wanted to shout out her utter glee.  Mai inclined her head and Katara took her leave.


	3. ACT I | 一雨成秋

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Playlist
> 
> Apple Music — https://itunes.apple.com/us/playlist/3-party-party-party/pl.u-kv9lGZ5T4mR2Pe
> 
> Spotify — https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7qkTJGXnmhSy9qY3RS9ypD

**Day 1 || 3:20PM** **—** **Zuko**

Zuko didn’t wait to join the applause that the audience was showering down upon Katara. He rushed out and stationed himself next to the exit to wait for her.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

 **Day 1 || 3:30PM** **—** **Toph**

“Alright ladies, are you ready for a real practice session?” Toph asked the group, cracking her knuckles. She was eager to start slinging boulders in the guise of ‘training.’ Toph heard Suki snicker in the distance. “I know that none of you are earthbenders, but that doesn’t mean that you guys have nothing to learn from earthbending. Now, line-up!” Toph bellowed. The warriors rushed to form a few neat rows in front of her; she took particular notice of the fact that Ty Lee had made sure that she was one of the ones closest to her in the front row. She grinned once she saw how enthusiastic the Kyoshi Warriors were to be receiving a personal lesson from her.

“Earthbending comes from a strong foundation. You have to root yourself firmly to the ground and refuse to be moved. You have to be as un-moveable and sturdy as the earth you’re standing on,” Toph said. She stepped forward nonchalantly, sliding her left foot from the toes and ending on the heel. A pillar of earth erupted upwards a few meters away. The Kyoshi Warriors looked on slightly startled. She then stepped into a basic stance. She waited a moment to let them look her over. Then she breathed in and pushed her arms outwards; the pillar _moved_. It accelerated exponentially, ultimately smashing into the nearby wall. Toph let the girls gape at her casual display. She waited until they turned back to her. “Let me see your stances,” Toph said as she eyed the group critically.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

 **Day 1 || 4PM** **—** **Zuko**

“Zuko? What are you doing sleeping on the floor?” Sokka asked, his head cocked to the side. His voice broke Zuko out of the light doze that had overtaken him.

Zuko snapped his head up and accidentally knocked it against the wall. “I was hoping to talk to Katara, actually,” Zuko said, rubbing his head. Sokka gave him a pitying look. “What. What’s that look for?” he asked him having guessed his answer already.

“Katara already left. Like a while ago, actually,” said Sokka confirming his fears.

Zuko stood up hastily. “Do you know where she went?” he asked.

“She said she was going to go find Toph,” Sokka said.

Zuko didn’t know where Toph had gone and from the look Sokka was giving him, he didn’t either. “Well, it’s not like you won’t see her later. What’s with the rush?” Sokka asked him. The adrenaline rushed out of Zuko and he slumped back against the wall. Sokka was right. He might have been anxious to talk to Katara, but there was no point in going after her when he didn’t have the faintest clue of where she could be.

“You okay, dude?” Sokka asked him.

“Yeah, peachy,” he replied tiredly.

Sokka frowned at him and clasped his shoulder. “You should head home for a bit and rest before tonight. It’s better than falling asleep in random hallways,” he said.

“I’m fine. I feel perfectly refreshed after that light nap,” Zuko said.

“The one you had against the wall? That was refreshing for you?” Sokka’s sarcasm was thick. Zuko had nothing to say to that.

“It wasn’t a suggestion, buddy. Let’s get you home,” Sokka added and nudged him towards the exit. Zuko opened his mouth to retort, but Sokka beat him to it, “It’s for your own good. Now, come on.”

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

 **Day 1 || 4PM** **—** **Katara**

If she knew anything about Toph, she knew that she would be eager to get back in touch with her element after travelling. It was with this notion in mind that Katara was searching through the major training grounds in the Upper Ring. She had already gone through a few before she heard the distinctive sounds of rocks smashing against each other. Katara mentally patted herself on the back.

She nodded to the guards at the entrance and they held the doors open for her. She thanked them and entered the training room. In there, chaos reigned. There was a multitude of Kyoshi Warriors dodging rocks from every direction and battling each other simultaneously. She hazarded moving further into the room, careful to avoid any stray flying rocks and bumped into Suki, who was supervising the havoc.

Suki turned her way with a friendly wave. “Hey, Katara! You here to join in?” she asked.

Katara didn’t even know where to start with her questions, so she asked all of them. “Exactly what would I be joining? What even is this? I heard earthbending and came here looking for Toph. Is she here?” she fired the questions rapidly while scanning the room.

“It’s our daily practice and Toph is featuring as our guest instructor today,” Suki said. “As for where she is... can’t you hear the crazed laughter? She’s on that platform in the center. Up there,” she continued and pointed skywards. Katara followed her finger, craning her neck, and saw Toph laughing maniacally while earthbending in all directions.

She took in the scene for a moment. “Ah. I see her now,” she said belatedly.

A platform made up of earth rose up in front of her. She glanced at Toph and back at the platform and then back at Toph.

“Looks like she’s inviting you up,” Suki said next to her. Katara eyed the platform again dubiously and then climbed on.

Before her feet were even solidly on it, it rose up rapidly. She fell down and held on frantically to shield herself from the velocity of the lift. “TOPH!” she yelled her friend’s name, irritated at the rough treatment.

◆       ◆

 **Day 1 || 5:30PM** **—** **Suki**

Suki quickly sidestepped to the right and the ice dagger narrowly missed her. She watched it pass by her, narrowing her eyes, the sight in slow motion. If she had noticed just a second later... She turned back to her opponent, focus firmed.

Katara was readying another volley and Suki took that as an opportunity to dart in her direction. Katara’s eyes tracked the movement. She knelt down, her water dropping the dagger shape and collapsing back. Her arms rose and then the rest of her body followed as she raised a wave of water that she quickly turned to ice to form an effective barrier between herself and Suki.

Suki cursed in her head and redirected her movement to dive behind a pillar. She took in the various jagged edges and dents that were on the wall in front of her. She covertly glanced back at Katara who was advancing on her; an idea had hatched.

◆

**Katara**

Katara rushed forward to where she estimated Suki to be. She surveyed the area in front of her and moved closer. Katara heard a faint sound and dropped down into her fighting stance. She kept a cautious eye out in all directions but spotted nothing out of the ordinary.

Still, she didn’t relax, the lack of knowledge of her enemy’s movements preventing her from doing so. She continually circled around, eyes tracking all directions, waiting for some sign.

◆

**Suki**

Suki carefully placed her left leg on the last ledge. She then eyed the distance between the wall and the pillar. She strengthened her resolve and jumped. She glanced down below and saw that she was directly above Katara now.

◆

**Katara**

A body collided with hers. Her face met the floor and she coughed at the dust cloud that resulted from the fall. Katara’s brief moment of shock cost her dearly; Suki struck before she had any reaction. She disentangled herself from Suki and leapt away and into a ready stance. The non-bender sprinted in her direction. Katara tried to summon forth her element, but it was sluggish, too slow to be of use. Suki’s blow landed and Katara, unprepared for the hit, unbalanced.

Before she could fall far, Suki had her. Her wrists were held securely and her body was pinned to the ground in the next breath. Katara could hear the Kyoshi Warriors cheering their captain on in the distance. The waterbender blew the hair hampering her vision away.

Suki leaned down and spoke in her ear, “Do you give?”

“I give,” Katara conceded.

Suki released her and held out a hand. Katara clasped it and Suki pulled her up. She wasted no time in dusting off the grime that she had gained over the course of the bout.

“YES, SUKI! WAY TO GO! WHOOOO!!!” Toph shouted. They glanced at each other and both turned to look over at their audience, sharing twin expressions of amusement.

 

◆       ◆

 

**Day 1 || 7PM**

“It’s nice to dress up once in a while,” Toph said. Katara promptly choked on her noodles.

“It’s surprising to hear you of all people say that,” Suki voiced the same thought while patting her asphyxiating friend on the back.

“People can change and grow and all that jazz,” Toph said, waving her chopsticks in the air.

“Just last year you were still going on about your ‘healthy coating of earth.’ People don’t change that fast,” Katara snarked when she recovered her breath. Toph ignored her comment entirely, instead, choosing to focus on the food in front of her.

“You know, Toph, your aura has gotten so much brighter since I last saw you!” Ty Lee spoke up as she hung over the earthbender.

“Who invited fan-girl number two?” Toph grumbled.

“Aw, Toph! I know you love me even if you deny it!” Ty Lee pronounced and squeezed Toph even tighter as Suki looked upon the pair fondly.

“Anyways, Toph’s right. Dressing up sometimes is nice. I love my warrior garb, but sometimes I’m aiming for something a little less… fearsome,” Suki said.

“I respect your traditions and everything, Suki, but the makeup you wear with it really hides your features. I didn’t even recognize you when I first saw you without it. I never realized how pretty you were. The makeup hid everything,” Katara commented. Suki grinned at her in thanks.

“Oh I know! And we have to apply loads of it on, so we don’t accidentally sweat it off,” Ty Lee added.

“When I was younger, I actually used to beg my mom not to put it on me, but I got used to it so I don’t even really notice it after a while,” Suki said.

“But we’re not going as Kyoshi Warriors tonight, just girls looking for some fun,” Ty Lee said, her tone airy, but her eyebrows raised suggestively.

“Hopefully, not too much fun,” Toph said, tone dry.

“Of course not,” Ty Lee giggled.

“Well, it’s all besides the point if the party’s a bore,” Katara remarked.

“We’re having an after-party, so the party before that’s whatever,” Toph reassured.

“Are we? I didn’t hear about that?” Suki questioned.

Katara looked over at Toph in askance, but all she replied with was, “Yep, we are. It’s at your place.”

“My place?” Katara exclaimed and asked, “When—”

“That sounds like so much fun!” Ty Lee enthused. Katara was about to protest, but the exuberant warrior steamrolled her, “Don’t worry about it! Just enjoy it! Think of it as the party going on even longer than you thought it would.”

Ty Lee’s gaze had drifted towards dream-land. Katara turned to Toph; she was somehow still grabbing more food, which baffled her— where did she store it? And then she turned Suki’s way; the non-bender had leaned her cheek into her hand, her gaze misted over as well.

“Oh, it’ll be so nice to be all together again. It’s really been _too long_ this time,” Suki said, her voice wistful

 

◆       ◆

 

**Day 1 || 8PM**

“You can’t be serious,” Katara said. Toph was sprawled out, not a care in the world shown in the measure of her slump; she idly spun a circle of small rocks with her foot; it only added to her slothful presentation. But that wasn’t what bothered Katara. What bothered Katara was that she was presented herself like this _while wearing the same thing she had been when Katara had left her_. Katara gave Toph her best unimpressed glare, knowing Toph couldn’t actually see it, but uncaring of that fact at the moment, too caught up in her ire.

Toph waved her off languidly from where she lay, “Relax. I’ll change. I just don’t need hours to do so like you apparently do.”

“What are you wearing then?” Katara asked, hands on her hips. She needed to make sure that what Toph picked out didn’t clash horribly at least.

Toph gave her a knowing look. “My stuff is back at my place, so we’re going to have to go there,” she said.

“Do we have to? I still have to do my face makeup,” she protested weakly.

“Bring it,” Toph easily countered. “You want to pick out my outfit, don’t you,” she asked looking back at Katara. Toph didn’t wait for her to respond; she started heading out, “Besides, I already told Suki we’d meet her at that park near Sparky, Pop, and mine’s place.”

“Fine,” she gave in, not even surprised at this development.

◆       ◆       ◆

 **Day 1 || 8:05PM** **—** **Toph**

Toph leaned her chin into her arms, heeding the bubbling and whooshing of the pond rushing under the bridge she rested against. Katara leaned next to her, posture casual, relaxed— a rare state for her, actually.

“Remember when we were here during the war and we tried to sneak into the Earth Kingdom Palace at that fancy party?” Toph said.

Katara turned to peer at Toph, “Yeah, of course. Why are you bringing it up?” she asked, obviously puzzled at her abrupt launch into speech.

“No reason, really. I was just thinking about it, I guess. You know, we’re doing the same thing now as we were back then: getting dressed up to go to a party in Ba Sing Se hosted by the Earth King,” Toph pointed out.

“Oh! _You_ _’re right_ ,” Katara said, realizing the same thing she had.

She let that thought settle in for a bit and then… “But everything feels different now,” Toph continued.

Katara was silent for a minute and then spoke, “Some things may be different, but other things are the same, like you being my closest friend.”

Katara moved in to hug Toph, but she pushed her away, embarrassed and protesting her unexpected (and thoroughly embarrassing) declaration, “Katara!”

“Toph!” Katara mocked back and erupted into laughter. Toph joined her in her mirth. Toph was glad they were together again; it had truly been too long without her best friend.

“Toph! Katara!” Hearing someone shout out their names interrupted them. Katara turned her head, but Toph already knew; Suki was rushing over to them.

◇

Toph moved to exit the park and then realized that both Suki and Katara had paused. “Guys,” she said, futilely trying to get them to move.

“You look so beautiful, Katara! I never usually see you in Earth Kingdom colors,” Suki complimented.

“Me? I’ve never seen you look this nice!” Katara replied back.

“Yes, yes, we’re all gorgeous. Now, let’s get a move on. I swear a platypus-sloth gets more done than you two,” Toph said and finally got her friends to follow.

◆       ◆

**Day 1 || 8:15PM**

The villa was quiet and they swiftly reached Toph’s chambers. “Ta-dah. Here it is,” Toph said, gesturing in a random direction.

“You haven’t even unpacked yet?” Katara asked her, incredulous. Of course this was the first thing she would comment on; she wouldn’t be Katara if she didn’t.

“It’s been a busy day. I’ll get to it,” Toph said. Katara had this talent where she didn’t even have to say anything to make her point clear. It was so _annoying_. “I can feel the disapproval and I just want you to note that it’s not appreciated,” she added.

The sound of Suki’s voice distracted Katara’s attention. “Wow, Toph! I didn’t expect you to have this many clothes and so many expensive looking ones at that,” Suki said from where she was going through her things. The warrior really didn’t waste any time, did she?

She sounded surprised and Toph considered being offended. “Most of them are gifts from my parents. I don’t usually wear them,” she answered.

Katara moved to where Suki was and was quiet for a moment and then, “Suki’s right, Toph. Some of these are really beautiful and I’ve never seen you wear any of them.”

“We should change that,” Suki said while appraising her. At this, Toph seriously considered just leaving them there.

 

◆       ◆

 

**Day 1 || 9PM**

A perk of her group of friends was that they didn’t have to wait in line, ever. The trio were quickly welcomed and escorted inside to the receiving hall. In there, her friends repeated their stuck in place act. Though this time, she could understand. She hadn’t been paying close enough attention before, but now that she was… The ceiling was domed in little, completely unnecessary, but still elegant arches; the attention to detail for the architecture in this room spoke to money generously and tastefully spent.

People roamed the halls freely, their perfumes and colognes intermingling pleasantly in the air. Even the music was tolerable. “Well, at least the Earth King can throw a half-decent party, it seems,” she said.

“This place is gorgeous. You can’t see the decorations, Toph, but they really are obscenely nice; all of this is ridiculously nice,” Suki said.

“I guess the Earth Kingdom wanted to go all out this year,” Katara commented, “I’m so glad that they’re not starting the stuffy dinners until tomorrow.”

Since most of her friends had to, they sometimes forgot the fact that technically Toph had no obligation to attend such events. “Have fun with that tomorrow,” Toph said.

“Thanks for your empathetic concern, Toph,” Katara said, clearly not thankful at all.

“You’re welcome,” she returned anyway.

“I’m going to go mingle, see you guys in a bit,” Suki said. They said their goodbyes and Suki stepped out of their bubble.

“We should probably make our rounds, too,” said Katara. Toph only groaned in response.

 

◆       ◆

 

**Day 1 || 9:30PM**

The advantageous part about being blind was that you could see what everyone else was unable to. In Toph’s opinion, perception was indeed deceptive. When it came to sight, it seemed like there was so much more information to sift through. Perhaps this was the reason for Toph’s ability to get to the heart of the matter in most, if not all situations.

She observed the mass of people dancing, unimpressed. Toph could tell so much about the relationships of the different parties through her senses alone that others would have to piece together from various clues. It was quite easy for her to eavesdrop with her above average hearing, her sensing abilities, and the fact that she never had to turn to watch anyone she had her eye on; all these circumstances coupled together made the endeavour almost effortless.

She was currently guessing the relationships between the guests at the party. There was one couple close to her that Toph had been keeping an eye on surreptitiously. They were currently dancing. One partner kept trying to close the distance between them and the other would step back. It was clear how little interest the second person had in the first; Toph had initially based that assumption on how serene their heart-rate stayed while the other’s would vary depending on the proximity. She kept watching them and grew more and more sure in her conclusions.

She amused herself this way while she waited for Katara to return.

◇

She spotted Sokka and Suki talking in the distance.

◆       ◆

 **Day 1 || 9:45PM** **—** **Suki**

“I guess that’s true,” Sokka said as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Suki couldn’t help but laugh at him a little. He smiled at her softly. “Would you like to dance?” he asked, out of seemingly nowhere. He held his hand out and looked at her hopefully. She was taken aback. His big blue eyes were staring straight at her.

Her taking so long to respond was adversely affecting his confidence. His expression dimmed and his hand drooped. Suki panicked. “I’d love to,” she said and grabbed his hand a little too tightly. He winced a bit and she loosened her hold. They then looked at each other a bit awkwardly.

Suki turned more fully into him and put her hand on the crook of his neck. She shot him an easy smile masking the turmoil within. He put his hand on her shoulder-blade while she offered him her hand. They started off with a familiar routine; they had done this countless times before. She was responding to what he was about to do before he had even finished the thought. They were a spectacle to watch. He smirked at her and she smirked back. He pulled her into his body and then they both released each other at the same time, twirling to be at opposing ends of each other. They came together again. Dancing together was vividly familiar. She missed this. She missed _him_.

Most of the song went past without her even noticing; she spent most of it with her heart in her throat poised at a breath, but too afraid to breathe out. The song was ending in a slow rhythm, a contradictory beat to the frenzied one her heart had taken on. Suki had agreed to dance with him; but despite the fun she had been having, this was feeling like a massive mistake. She felt simultaneously like she was flying and plummeting to earth; it was torturous.

The dance was almost ending and they came even closer together. She leaned into his warmth and he responded by laying his head on hers. They were doing a facsimile of what they had been doing before. Previously, they had been dancing earnestly to the beat, but now they were just contentedly swaying together. She was savouring this moment for as long as it was going to last. If she could choose to live in any moment, she, without a doubt, would choose _this_ one.

 

◆       ◆

 

 **Day 1 || 10:30PM** **—** **Toph**

Toph was listening to Katara describe a difficult proposal hearing _in great detail_. Katara knew she hated dry stuff like this, but Toph knew she needed to talk about these things and because Toph was a _good friend_ , she listened. "...at least a third of the room was giving me the stink-eye, but I could see that the rest of the room was hanging on my every word. And so I…" Katara trailed off and ended her enthusiastic re-telling. Thank the gods.

Ba-thump Ba-thump Ba-thump, her heart-rate increased; Zuko was heading their way. "Hey, Katara," Zuko said, a shy smile in his voice, and yep, there it was. Katara's heart-rate stuttered and then started beating even more fervidly than before. She thought for a moment and concluded that there was no easy way out of witnessing this encounter. Toph couldn’t believe that she was stuck in the middle of this. She rolled her eyes as hard as she could. Neither one of them noticed, of course. She took back her thanks.

"Could I borrow you for a minute, ‘Tara?" Zuko asked. 'Tara? Interesting. They apparently had pet names for each other now. Zuko finally turned Toph’s way after staring at Katara for what felt like an aeon and uttered a hasty greeting to the rest of the party whose name did not start with Kay and end with Tara. For Agni’s sake, he probably had _just realized_ that she had been there the entire time. Toph was starting to feel physical pain. This was interminable. The situation between Katara and Zuko was just all around itchy.

Zuko turned back to Katara and waited for an answer to his previous question. "Sorry. Can't! Toph and I were talking about something urgent. Let's talk later!" Katara said rapidly and said _later_ like she would rather have said _never_. Zuko turned to Toph. But before Toph could process the very urgent conversation she apparently had been having, Katara run-walked her all the way across the room. Clearly, this was very normal behavior, nothing suspicious to see here _at all_.

◆       ◆

 **Day 1 || 10:37PM** **—** **Katara**

Katara’s nerves felt like they were on fire. Her heart was going a mile a minute and she didn’t even know where to begin when she saw the way that Toph was looking at her. The very thought of explaining her outburst to her made Katara’s stomach bottom out in cold dread. She couldn’t even lie her way out of it because Toph would know the second that dishonesty came out of her mouth. She was stuck.

"So are we going to talk about whatever that was or?" Toph asked more gently than expected. Katara took in a deep breath. She could do this. It was only Toph. She trusted Toph. Toph wouldn't judge her. And she knew there was no getting out of it now, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t try delaying the inevitable.

While she had been mentally fortifying herself, Toph had started patting her foot on the floor impatiently. "We'll talk about this later when we're alone. I promise I'll tell you then. Okay?" Katara asked anxiously.

"Okay," Toph agreed, her foot stilling.

"Great!” Katara was surprised at how easily Toph had let it go. She didn’t expect that to actually work, but wasn’t willing to question it now that it had.

She then turned the conversation onto Toph hoping to distract her so she wouldn’t change her mind. “Now, let's talk about you. What's been going on since we last saw each other? I know you had that one idiotic mission a couple of weeks ago?" 

"Oh yeah. That. Yeah, that was a mess," Toph said bluntly. She then proceeded to launch into an involved tale involving a robbery and an enterprising cabbage merchant. Katara breathed out a sigh of relief.

◆       ◆

**Day 1 || 10:37PM — Zuko**

Zuko stared at the space Katara had occupied until literal seconds ago. He was at a bit of a loss. He had been trying to get her alone all day so they could talk but had hit upon absolutely no success. He felt his heart sink at the realization that Katara was avoiding him.

"Zuko! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" Suki exclaimed. She then grabbed his arm and started walking him in a different direction. "You NEED to save me," she whisper-hissed into his ear.

Zuko was starting to feel whiplash from all the people suddenly appearing and disappearing around him. At this point, he wasn’t even surprised anymore. He was just rolling with it. “Sure. What’s the issue?” he turned to Suki questioningly.

“Not here. Come on,” Suki said as she led him into a darkened corner of the hall he hadn’t even noticed before.

◇

**Zuko**

“I’m hiding from Ty Lee,” Suki said before Zuko could question her again. “I love her. I do, but sometimes her enthusiasm is just... a lot. I needed to get away and I used you as an excuse,” she said unrepentantly.

“I am so happy to know how highly you think of me,” Zuko replied sardonically. He waited for a moment for a reply, but none came; Suki wasn’t listening. She was staring to the side. Zuko followed her gaze but found nothing out of the ordinary. He turned back to her.

They were still in the corner and Suki still wasn’t looking at him, but now she wasn’t staring anywhere in particular. She had seemed completely normal just minutes before; but between then and now, she had crumpled into herself. He approached her and she dived into his chest. His arms wrapped themselves around her before he even realized what had happened.

“I feel like the biggest idiot in the world,” she said without raising her head, muffling the words. He closed his arms around her even tighter.

“Hey, hey, shhh, no,” he murmured soothingly. He had no idea what was happening, but Suki was obviously upset and that immediately shifted his priorities. “What happened?” he asked cautiously.

She shook her head. “It’s stupid,” she said.

“It can’t be stupid if it affected you like this,” he said and then waited for her to reply. When no such reply came, he continued. “You don’t have to talk about it. If you want, we can just stand here until you feel better?” he asked quietly in her ear. She nodded and held onto him even tighter. Concern abating slightly at the response, Zuko closed his eyes and just held her.

 

◇

 

**Day 1 || 11PM**

“Oh good, you’re together,” Katara said in a flat monotone. Zuko shot her a quizzical glance.

“Yeah, that’s convenient. Ready to go?” Sokka asked. Zuko looked back to Suki. She gave him a tiny, private smile.

She turned to face the rest of the group and said, “Yeah, let’s go.” He smiled at her relieved that she was feeling better. And with that, they left the Palace behind.

◆       ◆       ◆

 **Day 1 || 11:15PM** **—** **Katara**

They stepped outside to a downpour. Katara looked up and couldn’t even make out the sky clearly. She blinked the moisture out of her eyes and noticed that the streets that were bustling with life were now completely deserted. She shivered violently; she was definitely not dressed for the weather.

“Katara. If you could be so kind…” Sokka said giving her a significant look.

“Oh!” she said when she realized what he was alluding to.

She breathed in to center herself and then gracefully moved her arms into an inward arc. The raindrops that were harshly beating down around them stopped in their movement. She paused for a beat to spread out her fingers. She steadied her focus and raised her arms level with each other. She looked up and moved her arms until they crossed across her chest. The water droplets joined together to create a sphere around them.

“You know it never gets any less cool when you do this,” Sokka said as he marvelled at the outside world through the layer of water.

“Yeah, nice work, Sugar Queen,” Toph added, genuinely appreciative.

“It is kind of creepy though,” Suki said staring out at the abandoned streets. She was rubbing her shoulders and trembling a bit.

“Are you cold?” Zuko hovered next to her. “Here. I’ll help too,” he said. He heated the air around them and bent a flame into his hand. Katara eyed them speculatively.

“Not that these streets aren’t super interesting or anything, but we should get a move on,” Sokka said and started guiding them towards his and Katara’s villa.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

 **Day 2 || 12:20AM** **—** **Sokka**

At this stage in the party, everyone had congregated into a circle on the floor and were telling increasingly outlandish stories. Spirits were high, the company was pleasant, and the drink was flowing. Abruptly, Sokka and the less inebriated of the bunch heard a door opening.

He looked around, but it seemed everyone was accounted for. Then he noticed people turning their heads and followed suit. The silhouette of Aang was immediately recognizable. Sokka brightened even further at seeing his best friend. "AANG! COME HERE! WE'RE HAVING SO MUCH FUN!" he exclaimed in Aang's general direction. He waited for a bit, but the figure did not move. He turned to Katara, who was next to him, confused. She gave him an expression like she shared his confusion.

"Aang? Why won't you come join us?" Suki asked a little hesitatingly.

"Aang? What's wrong? Why do you look so serious?" Katara asked. Aang moved as if to respond, but all he got out was a sigh as he rubbed his head. Noticing the abnormal behavior, Sokka felt the smile drop from his face. His high spirits too started fading; it had come from the mood around him and that was tanking as more people were noticing Aang’s strange behavior.

"It's nothing bad, guys. Don't look so concerned!" Aang took in the room. "Really," he reassured. There was a lull. The room had quieted. An air of confusion was rising. No one said anything for a long while.

"Aang, what is it?" Sokka asked, breaking the uneasy silence that had overtaken the group. As if a response to his question, Aang's face darkened. He didn't speak for a moment but instead moved towards the group. With everyone’s attention focused solely on him, Aang explained the reason for his dour mood.

"The Earth King has a mission for us," he said flatly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 一雨成秋 — a sudden shower at the end of summer brings an abrupt arrival of autumn


	4. ACT I | The Madness Commences — 乱象开

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Playlist
> 
> Apple Music — https://itunes.apple.com/us/playlist/4-the-madness-commences/pl.u-xlyN693Ioq8yzG
> 
> Spotify — https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0cpvdIq8aAv5iB0gShSRnr

**Day 1 || 11PM** **—** **Aang**

Aang glimpsed the Great Wall of Ba Sing Se and urged Appa to fly a little faster, “I know boy, but we’re almost there.” He rubbed Appa’s fur, happy to have such a loyal companion. They were approaching the city proper now. They had passed the Wall. The guards had seen them, but let them continue un-harassed.

The city was almost entirely lit up. If Ba Sing Se hadn’t had its Wall, then Aang would have certainly sighted the city by the deluge of lights illuminating it with a rainbow of colors. The Earth Kingdom had gone all out this year; it seemed like the whole city was awake and celebrating. It was a fantastical scene to look upon from the sky. Several people spotted him and Appa flying by and waved excitedly. Aang made sure to wave back at everyone he was able to from atop Appa’s back.

He had been almost falling asleep earlier, but the exhilaration in the atmosphere seemed to have transferred to him by osmosis. Aang’s excitement at seeing his friends again awakened anew, greater than before. Then he remembered his summons once again and groaned out loud. He redirected Appa to head towards the heart of Ba Sing Se.

◇ 

**Day 1 || 11:15PM**

Aang entered the throne room. "So you called me and now I’m here. What is it that you require of me and why is it so urgent that it couldn't wait until after dawn?" Aang asked, already annoyed.

Kuei was sitting on his throne cooing at his bear. He stopped and turned to face Aang. His face morphed deftly from his previous expression to one more befitting royalty. "I assure you, Avatar, that this matter is of the utmost importance," he said, attempting to pacify the airbender. Aang breathed out a deep sigh and waited for him to continue. “I have received very troubling communications," Kuei said. He had steepled his fingers together.

"Troubling how?" Aang asked, interested despite himself. He straightened up and focused his attention more fully on the King before him.

"Troubling in that I am convinced that they are from my wayward Dai Li," Kuei said.

At this statement, Aang smothered a derisive laugh. "You still call them yours in spite of them betraying you so utterly?" Aang couldn't help feeling incredulous. The Earth King opened his mouth to reply, but Aang continued before he could say anything, "And why are you so sure it's the Dai Li?" Kuei looked affronted. Aang then realized how rudely he had spoken.

Kuei frowned at him, displeased, but continued despite that, "I am the Earth King; therefore, the Dai Li live to serve me. They will come back; of this, I have no doubt. And to answer your latter question, there were certain code-words that only the Dai Li would know. Even if it's not the Dai Li, _which I doubt_ , it is still worth investigating for the extreme breach in security," Kuei said in a peeved tone.

"Where do I come into this?" Aang asked curtly, ready for the conversation to be over. He was anxious to leave. The meeting had already gone on too long in his opinion.

Kuei’s eye twitched and he looked at Aang sharply. He paused for a moment and then got to the point. "I need to meet with them in person, specifically alone, or else communication will cease. Now, the personage of the Earth King is sacred, so I need you and whoever else you deem necessary to covertly guard me during this meeting. I am sure I do not need to express any further how important this mission is," Kuei said imperiously.

"I see. When is this meeting?"

"Dusk tomorrow."

"That doesn't give us much time to prepare."

Kuei seemed vexed. "I will see you then," he said with finality, ending the conversation. Elated to be dismissed no matter how rudely, Aang left the throne room.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

**Day 2 || 12:30AM**

Aang carefully observed his friends’ dawning comprehension of his pronouncement and subsequent account of his meeting with Kuei. He saw the expressions play out on his friends’ faces as he told his tale, but no one stepped in to interrupt. The comments didn’t start until after he had concluded his story.

◆ 

**Sokka**

Katara was the first to speak.“I can’t believe he wants you, and by extension us, to go on a glorified goose chase for his own gain,” she scoffed.

“I can. He’s not exactly the paragon of considering other people,” derided Toph."Do we really want to help that guy? I mean he was the one who didn't even warn us that our invasion plan was already exposed to the enemy," Toph remarked.

"Guys, that's not helpful. This is serious," Sokka scolded. “Well, we don’t have much time to prepare, but it should be interesting in any case,” he said already drafting a possible plan in his head.

His sister turned around and faced him. “You can’t really be implying that Aang should take the mission and help someone like Kuei?” asked Katara disbelievingly.

"She's got a point, Sokka," Aang chimed in. He was leaning his chin on his staff, but he straightened up when the attention turned his way.

"Not you too, Aang!" cried Sokka, despairing. He felt like he was being the only reasonable one here. Why was nobody else considering the bigger picture?

"All I'm saying is that he could've prevented our losses from the invasion. Or we could’ve cancelled the invasion and spent that time better preparing ourselves to face Ozai and Azula," Aang replied a bit resentfully.

Sokka was beginning to get frustrated. He understood the issues Kuei had caused, yet they couldn’t just stand-by. "We can't just not do anything!" he pointed out.

Katara’s brows were furrowed, her nostrils were flared, and her hands were clenched. She only looked like this when she was ready to waterwhip someone at the slightest provocation. "Dad and the others didn't have to go to those prisons, Sokka! We put in so much effort and he didn't even say a word to us before he left on the back of that stupid bear!" Katara voiced, incensed. Sokka felt a flash of sadness as he considered Katara’s point.

His general disposition became more solemn. “Look, guys, I don't like this either, but he's royalty and we have a responsibility to the world to make sure he doesn't get himself killed," Sokka replied, clinging to his rationality. Someone had to be the voice of reason here. Still, Sokka felt slightly slimy defending Kuei; it felt, somehow, like he was betraying his friends.

Zuko who had been observing the entire discussion without saying anything so far suddenly cut in, “Sokka's right. We don’t really have much of a choice. We have to maintain good relations with the Earth Kingdom and ergo the Earth King. We're going to have to do this and keep our personal feelings out of it." Zuko’s certainty grounded Sokka. He broke out of his doubts and committed himself to his stance.

Sokka saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to identify the source. Aang had finally moved to sit down with everyone. “I honestly don’t have a great relationship with the Earth King to begin with. Even without considering my personal feelings, I don’t really agree with helping Kuei with such a self-serving mission.” He settled in next to Zuko and put his glider in his lap.

“I agree, Aang. We don’t owe him anything,” Katara said stubbornly. Uh-oh, she had crossed her arms. Sokka knew how hard it was to convince Katara of something when she got this way. However, he knew they needed her to agree. He didn’t want to do this without Katara’s agreement and he knew the rest of the group felt the same way, but he just didn’t know how to convince her when she was so against the entire idea.

“I think we should do it,” Toph abruptly interjected, rejoining the conversation. Everyone turned to look at her. “I don’t like this at all and I like that spineless eel even less, _but Sokka and Zuko are right_.” Sokka could see that Katara was about to voice her vehement disagreement, but Toph quickly turned to her and said, “You don’t have to agree with this. Agni, _I_ don’t even agree with this. But we’re going to do this and you need to come with us to watch our backs like you _always_ have. I refuse to do this without you.”

Katara deflated. Sokka let out a sigh of relief. “I’ll do it, but I’m **never** going to forgive him,” she said viciously.

“And you don’t have to,” Zuko was quick to reassure. And with that final remark, the discussion of whether to help the Earth King or not ended.

"Great. So now we have to go on a glorified babysitting mission," Toph grumbled. "Whatever happens I refuse to have anything to do with that smelly bear." Sokka marvelled at how quickly she turned from being the voice of reason to complaining. That’s got to be a talent, right?

Then what she had just said sunk in. “Oh god, do you think he’s actually going to want to bring the bear with him? _He is isn_ _’t he_?” Sokka said, despairing even more than before. Nobody replied, but Aang began to pat his shoulder consolingly. Sokka put his head in his hands and moaned. How was he going to put together the logistics of this mission in less than a day?

"I'm sure it won't be that bad. ...At least we have each other?" Suki tried to lighten the mood. Zuko looked at her with approval.

"That's easy for you to say. You weren't there for the invasion," Katara cut in. Suki turned and frowned at her.

"No need to turn on each other, guys. We're rarely all together like this, so let's not waste our time together fighting. We shouldn't let Kuei of all people divide us," Aang spoke up trying to keep the peace. "Let's think of this as another adventure," Aang was quick to back up his point. "Who knows? It could actually end up being fun. It can’t be worse than that time that we had to clean up that village that had been covered with that strange slimy stuff." At this statement, Katara uncrossed her arms and the group mood began to turn from anger to bemusement. 

"There isn’t anything Team Avatar can’t accomplish together," Zuko added. Smiles started breaking out on the faces of the group.

"Yeah! Team Avatar is back in business!" Sokka cheered, enthused.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

 **Day 2 || 2AM** **—** **Suki**

Suki stood up and stretched to get rid of the stiffness sitting on the floor had caused. “As nice as it was to see everyone, I think it’s about time we all go to bed. Especially now that we have an entire mission to brainstorm and carry out tomorrow,” she said to the group.

“Suki’s right. I mean look at Aang over there. He’s practically using his glider as a pillow,” Sokka added. Murmurs of agreement arose and everyone moved to head out.

Zuko made his way towards her. “Come on. I’ll walk you home,” he said.

“Sounds good. Let’s go,” Suki agreed, spent from the events of the day.

They departed together.

◆       ◆       ◆

 **Day 2 || 2:30AM** **—** **Katara**

“If you were hoping to get out of the talk you promised to have with me, you should know by now, I never forget anything,” Toph said from where she was leaning against her doorway. Unsurprisingly, Toph had stayed to wait for her instead of going back with Zuko.

Katara knew that Toph wouldn’t let this go, but she had been hoping for the very unlikely scenario that she had. “I wouldn’t dream of it,” she returned dryly. Katara would engage in this conversation, but she refused to be sober for it. “Well, if we’re going to talk about this, might as well open another bottle,” Katara suggested.

“Not firewhiskey. It doesn’t taste right if we don’t have a firebender to heat it up,” Toph said.

“I can just use some boiled water. It’ll be fine,” Katara said. She took a bottle from the room and they headed into the kitchen.

Katara rummaged for a couple of cups while Toph fetched the water. Katara held her arms out and slowly pulled them towards her; bending the water from Toph into the cups in front of her. She then held her hands flat over the cups and closed her eyes. She slowly drew out the warmth as she curled her fingers into her palms. The water evaporated, leaving the leaves on the bottom of the cup steaming hot. Katara poured a generous amount of firewhiskey into each of the cups. They waited a moment to let the drinks infuse and then the pair grabbed their respective cups.

They both nursed the drinks for a while; not speaking, each deep in their own thoughts. Katara was staring at the moon; hoping for guidance or strength, she didn’t know. Half of her cup was empty when Toph broke the silence between them, “So are you finally ready to tell me what it is that has you as jumpy as an armadillo-monkey?”

Katara leaned forward onto her hands, swaying towards the window, and sighed quietly. She gathered herself and straightened; moving away, and decisively faced her friend. “Remember that meeting a month ago about the completion of the Air Temples that was held at the Southern Air Temple?” she asked Toph.

“...yeah, I remember that being a thing.”

“Something happened that night. Between Zuko and me, I mean,” Katara started haltingly.

“Something happened between you and Zuko,” Toph repeated, prompting Katara to spill the rest. Katara looked a bit desperately at Toph’s face and bit her lip. “Katara,” Toph prompted again after she didn’t say anything for a while. Katara refocused on Toph and unwound all at once.

And so she told her about the events that transpired that night.

◆       ◆       ◆      ◆

**Katara**

_They broke apart. He moved until his lips were teasing the shell of her ear._ _“What do you want,” he breathed the question._

_“Anything you have to give,” she answered, hand still resting over the scar on his chest. He groaned quietly. She didn’t move, waiting for him to come to a decision._

_His hands travelled indecently lower and he pulled her closer to him. She took this as his answer and pulled his face back down to hers._

_//_

_They were going at a slower pace, but he was tugging on her hair more insistently now as if goading her._

_She took it as a challenge and kissed him rougher, wetter, more deliberately._

_He responded in kind immediately._

_//_

_He pulled back abruptly and she chased his mouth, but he purposely pushed her back a bit._

_She ached for him._

_“Are you sure? I’m not going to be able to stop if we...,” he asked trailing off._

_She thought she had been making her aspirations for the night quite clear, but evidently not enough for the hard-headed prince in front of her. She came to a decision. Well, she knew a way to get her point across._ _“Do I seem like I’m unsure,” she asked him after she had dropped down to her knees._

_She looked up at him, coy. He swore. Katara smiled, pleased._

_//_

_He grabbed her more firmly now. The places his hands were touching were burning; she moaned into his mouth._

_She took her hands out from where they were tangled in his robes and walked them into movements that would cool down the room._

_Steam rose up around them, adding to the dreamlike atmosphere that had enveloped, ensuring them further lost to each other._

_//_

_Katara sighed blissfully._

_“There are no ends to the things I want from you,” he said, voice muffled against her skin._

_She breathed in sharply at his declaration._

_//_

_She was fevered and he wasn_ _’t helping; heating ever hotter the more time ticked, neither of them capable of noticing anything outside of the other._

_She was moving faster now. Zuko kissed open-mouthed wherever he could reach. He was bruising her skin; apparently, he just couldn_ _’t help himself._

◆       ◆       ◆      ◆

**Day 2 || 2:50AM**

Toph was fanning herself. “And then what happened,” she asked curiously.

“And then…,  nothing. Nothing happened. I woke up the next morning and he was gone,” Katara said, words slow and saturated with a silent fury.

“Did you try to talk to him?” Toph asked.

“Of course, I did! Otherwise, I wouldn’t be as confused as I am now. I spent the whole rest of that conference trying to get his attention, but it was like every other thing was more important than me. We parted ways without him saying another word,” Katara said bitterly.

“Wow. Bad form, Sparky,” Toph commented, shook her head, and then quieted.

Katara grimaced and then continued. “I haven’t seen or heard from him since then until today. It’s like I imagined the whole thing. It seemed less and less real the longer I didn’t hear from him,” Katara said, feeling a familiar sadness.

“Well, it’s not the ideal way that Zuko could have reacted _and that_ _’s putting it lightly_.” Toph said the latter part of her sentence under her breath. “But you know how Sparky is; he’ll brood for ages if you let him and it’s not like he didn’t try to talk to you today. It’s a miracle he even came around to wanting to discuss it and you didn’t let him,” Toph finished, giving her an inquisitive look.

Katara averted her eyes. “If he wanted to talk to me so badly, he would’ve reached out before all this time had passed. And now… I don’t know. I’m confused,” she replied.

“Confused about what?” Toph inevitably asked her.

“Just… confused,” she answered evasively.

Toph was quiet and then spoke, “So are you just never going to talk to him? That’s not realistic, Katara. You’re going to have to eventually.”

Katara rubbed her forehead in irritation. “You think I don’t know that? Of course, I know that. I do. It’s just… I... I can’t right now.”

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

 **Day 2 || 3:30AM** **—** **Suki**

Suki had returned to a silent villa. It seemed that people were either still out or already asleep with no in-between. She was laying in her bed staring at the ceiling for answers that didn’t exist. The thundering rhythm of the rain beating down outside her window echoed the mood that she was in.

◆       ◆       ◆      ◆

**Suki**

_He was fast asleep and she was awake. She gathered the blankets around herself tighter as if to hold herself together. She couldn_ _’t believe that she had made this mistake again. It only ever ended the same way and all it managed to do was make a mess of her emotions and re-open all the wounds each and every time._

_She looked over at his face and resisted the urge to sob. She hated this. She hated this **so** much. She moved closer to him. She should have already left; instead, she was peering down at his peaceful, slumbering face. He was so beautiful and she was so sad. Her eyes traced over his browline, the ridge of his nose, his strong jawline_ _… Her face lowered to be closer to his. She moved her right hand to cup his cheek. Her heart was torn up and yet bleeding was such a painful pleasure._

_His eyes started to creak open until he was fully awake and staring. He lifted his left hand and rested it over her right and leaned his cheek more fully into her palm. He furrowed his brows._ _“Please,” he said quietly. She moved even closer to hear his near-silent words. “Please don’t leave me,” he finished, holding her gaze. Her heart broke even further._

_Everything about this was hurting her, but she kept walking into the pain with open palms; welcoming it. He brought up his right hand and lowered her face down to meet his once again. Suki didn_ _’t resist the touch. She was eagerly following despite knowing the end of this story; it was the same every time, but she continued to make this mistake over and over again and over again once more._

◆       ◆       ◆      ◆

**Suki**

“Please don’t leave me, huh…,” she murmured aloud to herself. She trailed her fingers across the palm that had cupped his cheek. She smothered the urge to scream. She ran her fingers through the strands of her hair. Suki gazed out at the full moon outside her window and contemplated her namesake. She breathed out a sigh; a terrible idea was brewing in the back of her mind. Normally, she would have disregarded it, but _she was so tired_ and if it quieted her mind for even a minute… She rose from her bed and left the villa.


	5. Intermission: Frazil — 冰天雪地

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Playlist
> 
> Apple Music — TBA
> 
> Spotify — TBA

**Day 2 || 1:30AM** **—** **Toph**

Aang was contentedly resting on her shoulder. Normally, she would have shrugged him off, but he seemed abnormally tired. No doubt because of the travelling and the events of the day. It couldn’t harm anything to give him a respite. Besides, it felt kinda nice, and with her world at the moment all warm and hazy; Toph was in a gracious mood.

Aang shifted a bit closer to her. “You know, you look really pretty today, Toph,” he suddenly spoke up after dozing for a while.

Toph smiled. “Thank you, Twinkletoes. You don’t look so bad yourself,” she answered his unexpected compliment.

“Thank y— Hey! Why do you always have to do that?” Aang questioned, mock-outraged, lightly pushing her.

“You just make it too easy,” Toph replied simply, pushing back. Aang laughed into her shoulder at her expected response. “Katara and Suki dressed me today,” she added idly.

“That makes sense. I’ve never seen you wear something that wasn’t green before,” Aang said. Toph didn’t respond. Aang quieted and soon lapsed back into his light sleep.

 

◆       ◆       ◆       ◆       ◆

 

The winter beats down on us, but there is still warmth between us. Please accept my hand. Don’t let go. Please. Please. Please. Why won’t you let me. Save you. Let. me. Let me save. you. Please.

Without you, I am empty. There exists no me outside of you. Please don’t leave me. I just need to hear your words again. Promise me forever. ~~Forever. Forever. Forever.~~

Grasp my hand and our summer will come again. Please.

Save me.

 

◆       ◆       ◆       ◆       ◆

 

Four high, glossy glass walls surrounded her; it was where she resided. She had pounded and stomped and yelled; she hated to admit her reality, but at this point, she couldn’t deny it. She was **stuck**. _She was stuck in this box_. How long had it been since she’d been trapped? It spanned forever. Will she ever see the end of the inky blackness around her senses? She couldn’t even sense her prison clearly. It was cold and lonely and she was tired, _so very tired_.

Time had ticked endlessly past her, losing all meaning. She was lost to it all. What did it mean? To live? Could this be considered living? She wasn’t sure. To live without a purpose was a cursed existence and it was that exact situation that she found herself. What. What. What. The word kept reverberating in her head. She kept questioning herself.

She prided herself on being certain and solid, but these days she felt like she was walking on rubble-strewn ground. She didn’t even know what she was doing or why she was doing it. ~~What was she even doing~~. Her mind was full of questions without answers. She didn’t have a clue how to move forward.

She was laying on the floor. Her head reclined on the cool, reflective surface under her. She didn’t know exactly when that had happened. She shivered.

 _Forever. Forever. Forever. She_ _’s been here forever_. She can’t see any way out. She can’t think any way out. And it was just her. Just her. No one would help her because no one else existed here. She was stuck here with herself ~~only herself~~ forever and ever. She would scream for help, but it was pointless. She was alone. Alone. Alone. Alone. The word was stuck in a loop in her mind. She was alone; stuck and alone forever in her glass box.

 

◆       ◆       ◆       ◆       ◆

 

 **Day 1 || 7:15AM** **—** **Toph**

_“I wanted to talk to you. Alone,” Toph stated._

_Zuko seemed a bit taken aback._ _“About?” he queried._

_“You’ve been a grump the entire way here and you want to ask what this is about?” Toph asked. She wanted to slap him._

_“I haven’t been a grump!” he grumbled._

_Toph didn_ _’t even dignify that with a response and instead asked him outright, “What is it?”_

_Before she had even finished asking, Zuko was slumping over. He sighed and looked upwards. Toph didn_ _’t know what expression he was making, but she imagined it being what Sokka would describe as ‘very frown-y.’_

_“Do you ever feel like everyone else has their life figured out and together and you just… don’t,” he said, sounding truly lost._

_His comment resonated more than she felt comfortable voicing, even with him._ _“That’s definitely not just you,” she shared in a quiet voice. “It seems like everyone has a thing or a purpose or whatever that they’re going to do; even you do, and I… just… don’t. So yeah, you’re preaching to the choir here,” she added._

_He had fully turned to her now._ _“Toph, I had no idea,” he began._

_She held up a hand to interrupt him._ _“We can talk about me another time. Let’s get back to you,” she stated plainly, very much not ready to discuss it._

_His pause after her statement communicated his doubt very clearly, but he continued._ _“I… it’s just,” he said. He ran his hands down his face and then sighed again. “Everyone seems to have this vision of who I’m going to be. It’s heavy,” Zuko said and then paused to turn back to the sky._

_“And it’s not like I don’t love my people or that I don’t want to be the Firelord. I do. But sometimes… sometimes I dream about leaving everything behind and not looking back.”_

_He turned back to her. Shame clouded his voice,_ _“...It’s horrible; I know,” he confided._

_Toph considered the prince before her._ _“It’s not horrible. You do realize that that’s exactly what I did right? I understand,” she said. “What are you running from?” she asked him, straight to the point._

_He didn_ _’t miss a beat, used to her bluntness. “What if I fail, Toph? I have so many expectations to live up to… what if I can’t? What if in the end, I just turn out to be a terrible Firelord?” he asked, voice growing more strained with each worry he listed aloud._

_“Well, you can’t screw it up worse than the Firelords before Pops,” Toph remarked._

_“That’s not funny,” Zuko replied, unamused. Okay, so adding humor to the conversation when Zuko was this high-strung was a flop._

_She adopted a more serious tone,_ _“Look Zuko, it’s okay not to know what you’re doing. It’s okay you’re not fine. You’re only one man. But at the same time, you can’t be afraid to try.”_

_She then paused; letting her last sentence sink in, and then moved closer to him._ _“And you know, every step you take, you’ll never be taking them alone. You know that._ **_I_ ** _**know** you know that. I wouldn_ _’t believe in someone who’s hopeless. You’re the most admirable person I know and that’s why people believe in you,” Toph reassured him._

_“But I’ve made so many mistakes,” Zuko protested._

_“And that’s why I like you. If you were perfect, you’d be so creepy,” Toph replied swiftly._

_At this, Zuko barked out a laugh._ _“Thanks, Toph,” he said, his voice much lighter._

_“Eh, I do what I can,” Toph said and lightly shrugged. She was happy she could cheer him up, even if just a little._

◆       ◆       ◆      ◆ 

**Day 2 || 4AM**

Toph was sitting outside in the garden. Most people were asleep, but nature was lively no matter the hour and she found that comforting. She breathed in the clean, sweet-scented air and along with it, the smell that came after rain. She was getting her feet and clothes all muddy, but she couldn’t care less; she felt at ease where everything was tranquil.

It didn’t feel quite real; she didn’t feel quite real. It was before dawn and Toph wished that the sun would never rise. She wanted to live in this moment. She thought that this was what true peace might feel like.

◆       ◆       ◆       ◆       ◆

**Aang**

The absence of noise was deafening. He buried his head further into the ball he was curled in. He gripped his elbows tightly and choked a sob. Aang bit his lip, harshly internally reprimanding himself. He blinked quickly and unsteadily rose from the corner he had placed himself in.

◆       ◆      ◆       ◆       ◆

A sudden breath. Can’t breathe. Water fills her senses. It’s cold, so so cold. And dark. She can’t breathe. Can’t breathe. Need air. Vision fading. Strength leaving.

She kicks out and hits against something solid. She’s suffocating in this cold, dark emptiness. She slams her hands up against the barrier between her and salvation. She strikes it repeatedly with pure desperation. Need to escape this prison. It cracks. She chokes. Again. More cracks appear, but it’s not enough. Again, and suddenly. Surface. She breathes in greedily.

Pant. Throat hurts. Face hurts. It’s still so cold and dark. But now… now, she can breathe. She takes in another breath and tries to call for help. Nothing comes out. She tries again. She can’t make a sound.

A single tear streaks down her face. That’s all she can manage. She stops. Struggling. She dives deep into the depths. Her last thought. Why. She closes her eyes.


	6. ACT I | Rally — 太阳升起

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Playlist
> 
> Apple Music — TBA
> 
> Spotify — TBA

**Day 2 || 3AM** **—** **Aang**

Aang, dead on his feet, stumbled to where his bed was laid out. Eyelids heavy and hooded over, he could barely keep them open. He sank down until his head touched down upon the bed. Then Aang’s eyes shot open; his thoughts blared loud loud loud. Moments before he had been seconds away from sleep, yet now he was kept wide-awake by the unexpected whirling of his thoughts.

He recognized, from past experience, that trying to quiet his mind would be a fruitless endeavour, so he didn’t expend the effort of attempting to do so. He ambled around the temporary residence that had been provided for him. It was entirely too large for one person and the special treatment rankled. How he had managed to find his bedroom in his previous state must have been a small miracle because Aang had left his room with the goal of finding the kitchen, but quickly found himself lost. He wandered mindlessly hoping to encounter his destination by serendipity.

The pouring rain made Aang’s surroundings feel decidedly cool. It was the only noise around. It was like the storm outside set him apart from the rest of the slumbering world. It was distinctly lonely and a far cry from the atmosphere of just a few hours earlier. Aang eventually found the kitchen and went through the motions of making himself some tea.

He paused for a minute to alight his eyes on the sight outside his window. He felt a compulsion take hold. He ventured outside under the umbrella of a water sphere. The downpour was really all-encompassing. He couldn’t make out anything of his surroundings. He made himself comfortable on the grass underneath him and sipped his tea, letting the cadence of the rain flow through him. He hadn’t been trying to quiet his mind, but it was gradually lessening into a tranquil silence.

The warm tea was a refreshing juxtaposition to the frigidity of the air. He still felt lonely, but it just added to the somnolent solace he had accidentally stumbled into. Earth underneath him, air around him, water pouring down, and warmth underneath his tongue. In his personal eye of the storm, Aang closed his eyes and found peace.

◆       ◆       ◆

 **Day 2 || 6:30AM** **—**   **Katara**

The sun rested harshly on the lids of her eyes. She groaned reluctantly and accepted the fact that her fitful rest had come to an end. She rose from where she lay and put her face into her hands. Truthfully, she didn’t think she had even slept at all.

She, with much regret, turned to face the view of the morning outside her window. She reflected on all that had to be done today and groaned again. She didn’t feel the slightest bit ready; all she wanted to do, at the moment, was go back to sleep. However; Katara reluctantly, and with a lot of griping, left her bed and started the new day.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

**Day 2 || 5:30AM— **Suki****

Suki made her way back to the villa unseen, and finally, let out the breath that she had been holding in. She crouched down and rested the heels of the palms of her hands over her eyes. She was currently hiding behind a tree in close proximity to her villa.

She peered at the residence before her and envisioned the Kyoshi Warriors that were inside; she was procrastinating entering. Suki was supposed to be their fearless leader, yet she was hiding, too afraid to face them. She felt weak down to her very bones. She didn’t want anyone to see her. She didn’t even want to see _herself_. She wanted to run far away from here to a place without expectations, to a place where no one knew who she was. She had no brave mask to don. Her conflicting emotions took center stage.

She had thought that the feelings that had rumbled within her when the moon reigned high in the sky were wild, but they had built and burned over during the hours since. Now, it felt like an internal storm that was ready to eat her alive. Tears leaked freely down her face, but Suki didn’t make a sound.

◆       ◆       ◆

 **Day 2 || 5AM** **—**   **Toph**

Toph sensed Zuko heading towards his door, so she straightened up into a more alert position. The door opened up and Zuko recoiled in shock just as she had planned. He placed his hand over his racing heart. Toph couldn’t resist a small grin and mentally filed away a small victory. “Toph! W-What are you,” was all that Zuko managed to gasp out in his surprised state. She smoothed her expression down into something more neutral.

“Morning, Sparky,” was all she bothered replying as she sauntered in. She paused right in front of him and pointed an accusing finger into his face. “Explain,” she demanded shortly.

Zuko leaned away from her and moved her hand to the side. “Explain what exactly?” he asked. He sounded tired. She felt the righteous rage inside her dampen a little, but she shook it off. He didn’t deserve that. At least not yet; not when she had no insight into his actions. She moved her hand back to where it had been previously.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

**Day 2 || 6:45AM— **Katara****

Katara was combing her hair when her brother appeared in her doorway. “Food’s ready if you want some,” he called.

She turned to regard him. He was grinning. She felt deeply irritated by his cheerfulness. “You look like you’ve slept well,” she said enviously.

“I didn’t,” he said and winked at her. Her ire spiked at the implication, but she didn’t have the energy to get into Sokka’s bad decisions. She said nothing and returned to her reflection. She started brushing her hair even more vigorously.

“You okay, sis?” Sokka asked her hesitatingly. She set her hairbrush down. It was a harsh sound in the quiet of the morning. She followed that up with her hands as she rose and turned around. Sokka looked dumbfounded at her incongruous actions. She knew that she was behaving irrationally, but it was like she couldn’t stop herself. She marched towards Sokka and opened her mouth ready to unleash her frustration and then closed it. What was she doing? She sighed and brushed past Sokka and left the room.

◆

**Sokka**

Sokka moved aside to let his sister pass him. His gaze travelled after her retreating figure. She was giving him whiplash. He made a mental note to avoid her until she emerged from the funk that she was currently submerged in.

He turned his mind towards the meeting ahead. Planning for the mission that was suddenly piled on their laps ( _thanks, Kuei_ ) rested squarely on his shoulders. Sokka had been working on it since he had heard the news; his mind thinking in circles trying to manifest a plan into reality. As a result, he had the broad strokes formed by now.

The plan that he was considering was very basic, but there wasn’t any time to put together anything more elaborate. And Sokka honestly didn’t think it was needed; he severely doubted that Kuei’s hunches were in any way true. But what he was concerned about was the complete unknown that was the mission ahead. With the Earth King only giving them the bare basics, they had almost nothing to go on and the plan had to be bare-bones as a result. Sokka felt the beginnings of a headache develop. He rubbed at his temples and left his sister’s room.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

**Day 2 || 6AM— **Suki****

Suki closed the door behind her and crept quietly through the hallway. A crash resounded and Suki followed the sound to where it originated. She turned a corner and found Ty Lee lying flat on her face, prone on the floor before her. “Ouch,” Ty Lee mumbled. Suki cleared her throat and watched as Ty Lee’s gaze travelled up from where she lay on the floor to where Suki stared back at her.

Suki raised an eyebrow. “Hi, Captain! I was just… getting a drink,” Ty Lee said unconvincingly.

Suki made a show of scanning the room. “A drink… from the balcony?” she asked the other slowly, each word heavy with disbelief.

Ty Lee got up quickly all while averting her eyes. She giggled nervously and ran away without answering. “Wonder what she’s been up to,” Suki murmured, sarcastic and bitter in equal measures.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

**Day 2 || 7AM— **Zuko****

“I think you and Prince Sokka are wise to set aside your personal feelings for what is more important. Sticking to your ideals is all well and good, but sometimes we must do things we do not particularly wish to for the greater good,” his uncle counselled.

“I understand that, but everyone is so upset, uncle,” Zuko said while stretching a bit. “I’m just hoping it’ll be brief. We were all looking forward to being together during this summit. Not chasing after a King’s whims,” Zuko complained and leaned his face into his hand. It felt good to complain to his uncle. Agni knows that he couldn’t present a conflicted front to his friends about this.

“All in good time, nephew,” Iroh said jovially. Zuko slumped over. “Where is Toph? The food will soon become cold,” Iroh asked him.

“Probably getting ready, I think. I’m not sure. She doesn’t particularly want to see my face at the moment,” he spoke morosely, tracing the wood of the table. “I don’t want to talk about it, uncle,” he said quickly afterwards before his uncle could get a word in.

There was silence for long enough that Zuko chanced a peek upwards. His uncle set a cup of tea before him and laid a hand over his own, stilling its anxious motion. Iroh was smiling at him gently. “It will all work out,” he reassured. Zuko smiled back at him and straightened, reaching for the tea. It was delicious; sipping at it in the calm atmosphere of the room with only the sound of his uncle’s humming made Zuko actually believe a little.

“When you’re done with that, help me find the teacups would you? Everyone will be here before you know it,” his uncle spoke up and Zuko did as he was told.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

**Day 2 || 8AM— Sokka**

Sokka lightly bit his lip and surveyed the room. Everyone had gathered together in a cozy sitting room with ample lighting and comfortable furnishings. He would find it relaxing if not for the mood currently residing within it. Sokka grimaced. “Better get on with it,” he murmured quietly, bracing himself.

Sokka clapped his hands loudly and everyone’s attention shifted to him. “So! We all know why we’re here,” he started. Various groans and other sounds of complaint resounded throughout. Sokka internally agreed, but smiled instead and continued. “The time-frame is not ideal, but we have to put together a mission plan for tonight,” he said; summing up the reason for the gathering. Zuko nodded at him, silently urging him on.

“It’s too early for this,” Toph complained from where she reclined on the floor.

“No kidding,” Suki added. They slumped against each other and Sokka pinched the bridge of his nose.

“We need to focus, guys. This is important,” Zuko spoke up. Sokka appreciated that he could count on Zuko to back him up on this.

Zuko got up to stand next to him and cleared his throat. “At the core, this is a bodyguarding mission. Therefore, a small team would be ideal. The rest of us should defend at a distance,” Zuko suggested.

“Exactly what I was thinking. What about the two of us teaming up for the up-close bodyguarding?” Sokka offered.

“That would probably be the best option,” Zuko agreed. Sokka glanced at the largely unhappy faces of the group and nodded to himself.

Katara looked by far the most irritated, but she hadn’t said anything so far which wasn’t a bad thing in this case. It was mostly him and Zuko speaking. The others just listened quietly. It was the best outcome that Sokka could have hoped for. They didn’t have time for disagreements considering it was the day of the mission, and that fact made Sokka want to bang his head against a wall.

He cursed the inconsiderate-ness of the Earth King in his mind. Despite the fact that he was basically championing this mission; he, like everyone else, didn’t particularly like the Earth King. Suki was the only one who probably had a neutral opinion of the guy; she hadn’t even met him as far as Sokka knew. Everyone else already had formed an unfavorable opinion.

He considered the others in silence for a bit. The rest of the group just stared back. “Aang, could you keep an eye on things from above? It would be helpful if we had a bird’s eye view on things,” Sokka turned to his friend.

“I can do that,” Aang nodded in acceptance. He agreed easily enough, but Sokka noticed the rigidness of his shoulders.

“Suki, can you use your stealthy ninja-skills to scope out whatever the surroundings are?” Sokka asked. “Yeah, I think I can use my ‘ninja-skills’ to do that,” she said, mirth clear in her voice. Well, at least there was one person here who wasn’t completely miserable.

“Could you two keep your lines of communication open? Aang can relay information to Suki and vice versa and one of you, preferably Suki, sorry Aang but you’re not so good at sneaking around no offence, could somehow relay information to Zuko and I,” Sokka said and gestured to each person in turn.

“So, Toph and I are going to be keeping watch from a distance?” Katara asked. Sokka nodded. He wanted to keep Katara as far from the main part of the mission as possible and Toph was a calming influence on her. Katara scrutinized him and he was sure that she knew what he was thinking, but all she said was, “Fine.” Sokka let out a breath. This was going miles better than he thought it would. Maybe they were ‘maturing’ as his father would say.

“Yeah, with that, we cover all of our bases,” he said.

“Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?” Zuko asked looking at everyone in turn. Everyone shook their heads or averted their eyes.

“You’ve been thinking about this, haven’t you?” Toph asked him.

“Someone had to,” Sokka replied.

“Well, I’m impressed, Snoozles,” Toph remarked.

To his day, he still didn’t know exactly when Toph’s compliments were stealth insults, so he just beamed at her as brightly as he could. Then he remembered that Toph was blind and instead said, “Thanks!” as obnoxiously as possible.

“Okay, could you dial it back for everyone else who isn’t fully awake like you are?” she said, slight disgust coloring her tone. Zuko muffled laughter next to him and Sokka serenely punched his shoulder.

“Well, since the lot of you are determined to be gloomy about this, someone has to pick up the slack,” he said with every ounce of cheerfulness he could muster. He only got tired glares in response.

Zuko stepped in front of him, “Okay guys, it seems like we have everything pretty much sorted for now. How about we disperse and try to get some rest before we have to report to the palace? We can pick this up later on.” Sokka then remembered that the political part of the summit was a thing and his spirit died a bit.

He looked around at the expressions of his friends and consoled himself. He wasn’t the only one dreading the rest of this day. “Meeting adjourned! Let’s all get some sleep like Zuko suggested,” he said.

Everyone started departing except for himself, Zuko, and Aang. They looked at each other and then at Aang who was comatose on the floor. Sokka wondered when that had happened. He looked at Zuko questioningly. “It’s okay. I’ll get some blankets and a pillow. You can go home,” Zuko said. He saluted his friend and left ready to embrace his bed.

 


	7. ACT I | Quiescent — 沉睡

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Playlist
> 
> Apple Music — TBA
> 
> Spotify — TBA

**Aang**

“Why...come here! ...safe! ...at once!” garbled speech floated its way into Aang’s ears. He frowned. He tried to pursue the voice but found only darkness, an endless void of inky, all-encompassing black. In all directions, ...up, down, right... it was… nothingness. Before he let fear grab a hold, Aang shook his head and squinted his eyes. He persisted long enough to be near giving up, concluding his attempts to be fruitless. But all at once, his vision focused and the void receded from his senses.

His view landed on a strange creature perched in an equally strange place. It looked vaguely like a giant bird, but if a bird’s natural condition included two additional heads. Aang couldn’t help but notice that it was looking _right at him_. It was unnaturally motionless, its stare unwavering. Discomfort crept in and he looked away from the piercing gaze that could see everything he tried to hide.

He, instead, surveyed the environment that had materialized around him and noted that it was a dried-up wasteland of a place, nature dried and dying, bleached in colors of yellow and brown. The landscape was utterly still and silent, but not in a way that could be construed as tranquil. It was as if no air was present in this place; nothing moved. No life existed.

He wasn’t able to examine his surroundings for long before it started swirling and twisting every which way around him. Aang was becoming dizzy. The only thing that stayed steady was the creature, so Aang kept his eyes riveted on it despite his unease.

A clamour that he hadn’t noticed before, too distracted by his strange situation, was steadily rising in volume. It quickly became deafening. The screeches sounded human; and this, more than anything else here, unsettled him. “The cries. Why won’t they stop?” Aang tried to ask the bird-creature. It attempted to answer Aang, but the noise permeating the air made the speech come across intelligible.

Aang clapped his hands over his ears and held on, trying in vain to muffle the shrieks. They were dissonant with the previous silence of the land. They continuously pierced the air with no end in sight. He winced, his ears ringing; it was quickly becoming painful. He focused again on the only other figure in the desolate landscape he had found himself in. It seemed that the noise only seemed to be affecting Aang because the other only kept staring at him intensely, no sign of distress to be seen. He slowly, arduously made his way to the creature.

Aang soon neared and the bird flew down from its perch to meet him. Both now on equal footing, Aang opened his mouth to speak.

◆

 **Day 2 || 10AM** **—**   **Sokka**

Sokka softly closed the door behind him. It had only been a couple of hours and yet he had already found his way back here. The nap he had just taken was a godsend, but it didn’t work a miracle; Sokka was still more exhausted than he’d been in a long, long time. He slapped his face and widened his eyes, trying to shed the fog taking residence in his mind. He yawned a bit and started walking to the room where the meeting had been held earlier, hoping Aang was still where he had left him.

He ducked into the room and an endearing sight greeted him. Zuko and Aang were fast asleep, curled towards each other on the floor upon a mess of blankets and pillows; Sokka found it almost cute. He let out a delighted giggle, quiet enough that it didn’t wake them. He was definitely teasing them about this at some point.

He tiptoed over and crouched down. He then moved in closer to where Aang lay. Sokka reached over and gently shook his shoulder. Aang’s eyebrows furrowed, but his only other response was to utter something softly. Sokka leaned in to hear. “...missing? Why...,” Aang trailed off and rolled over, groaning. Sokka frowned. He moved to shake Aang more violently, but Aang shot straight up before he had the chance to. Sokka recoiled, taken aback by the suddenness that was Aang’s shift from asleep to awake. It had taken place in an instant and it was unsettling.

“Huh? Oh, it’s just you, Sokka,” Aang said. Sokka’s eyebrow twitched a bit. “Wait. Where is everyone?” Aang asked.

“Sleeping,” Sokka answered, vague. Aang just looked at him, confused. It looked like post-waking up confusion, so Sokka ignored his look to let him sort himself out and turned to regard Zuko.

A spark of envy sprouted. “Man, I wish that were me,” he lamented looking over at Zuko’s slumbering figure. Duty called and Sokka answered, but he could still be a little grumpy about it all. He heard a yawn escape Aang, so he turned back to his friend. “Come on. We have to go meet His Royal Pain,” Sokka told him.

“Oh,” was all that Aang responded with, but he got up to follow Sokka’s lead out of the room.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

 **Day 2 || 9:30AM** **—**   **Suki**

The sun was mercilessly beating down on the group of sweating girls, but they persisted. They were currently going through a cool-down routine and their practice was, at last, winding to a close. Suki couldn’t wait for it to be over; nevertheless, she waited for everyone to finish before calling it.

“Alright girls, you’re all free for the day. Don’t forget your own individual kata practice!” Suki gave her last instructions and the group dispersed. She watched their retreating backs and sighed quietly to herself. In the past, the group wouldn’t have been so quick to leave. They would have straggled, talking and laughing with each other. But nowadays, that camaraderie was nowhere to be seen. It had become less a friendship and more a duty, their bond to each other. More and more, she found that she wanted anything else over the role she had once so eagerly coveted and fought to attain. The passion she used to cradle close had flickered until it had extinguished itself. One day, it was just... _gone_.

And she knew, she _knew_ , that the problem in the group was her, but she didn’t know how to let go; how to pass the hat to another. Because… because then, where would she be? _Who_ would she be?

‘ _Being afraid of change isn_ _’t a good excuse to continue being unhappy_ ,’ a voice echoed in her head. But she was scared. _Oh_ , she was **scared**.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

 **Day 2 || 10:15AM** **—**   **Aang**

Aang couldn’t shake the sense that he had woken from a nightmare. It had been clear to him when he had freshly woken up; but seconds later, it had slipped away from him, twirling away from his reach until nothing remained except for a vague sense of unease.

He wasn’t having the most pleasant of mornings, truth be told. He had woken up, the first time, on top of dewy grass, shivering and wet. The chill from then had stayed with him, unwilling to leave, his now constant companion. It wasn’t a physical sensation, but more a sense. He would find himself trembling at odd moments; but he was a firebender, _he shouldn_ _’t be cold_.

And now he was suddenly on his way to report to Kuei when it seemed, to him at least, that no time had even passed at all from morning until now.

He walked side-by-side with Sokka. It was a pleasant stroll except it was spotted with awkwardness and Aang’s muddled thoughts. He ventured a look over and saw Sokka staring ahead, completely focused. Aang reached for something to say, but came up blank. Sokka’s state made it even harder to reach out. Aang gave up trying and hung his head.

◆       ◆

 **Day 2 || 10:30AM** **—**   **Sokka**

“Your Highness. Avatar,” the guard bowed before them. Sokka would never get used to that. It was still such a strange sight to his eyes even after all these years. “Right this way. The Earth King has been expecting you,” the guard gestured for them to follow. They thanked her and trailed behind. They went down a grandiose corridor filled with gilded paintings and sculptures. Sokka honestly thought the grandiosity that was present throughout the entire Upper Ring was absurd, some people here had so much when the majority had so little.

The guard paused at a familiar door: the one that led to the Ba Sing Se Throne Room. He heard an agitated sound escape Aang, too quiet to be heard by anyone other than Sokka who he was standing shoulder and shoulder with. They stared up at the stately, and frankly excessive, door while the guards moved to open it for them.

“Well, I guess it’s really happening, huh? We’re really doing this?” Sokka remarked semi-incredulously.

“Seems so,” Aang replied in a tone with no discernable emotion or feeling held within. Sokka wasn’t sure what to make of the strange mood that had taken ahold Aang, but it wasn’t like he was an expert in reading him anymore and he had gotten used to giving Aang a wide berth a long time ago. He shrugged it off and entered Kuei’s chambers.

Kuei descended from his throne and walked forwards to meet them halfway. “Avatar Aang and Prince Sokka! Welcome,” he greeted. His bear bounded up after him and whined. “Bosco says hello as well,” he added. Sokka felt a twitch form on his brow. He grit his teeth.

“Good morning, Earth King Kuei,” Sokka said and then turned to regard the bear next to the King, “and um… Bosco,” he finished lamely. Aang repeated a similar greeting.

“Well, what is your report?” Kuei asked his eyes shifting from Aang’s to his. Sokka cleared his throat.

“We have the basic outline of a plan laid out, but could you offer us more information about the mission? It could really help us help you better,” Sokka asked.

A brief look of displeasure marred the Earth King’s face, but it was gone in an instant, leaving only a glib exterior. “I think the information I have provided should suffice. Don’t you?” he asked, raising a brow.

Sokka felt ire deep inside him light like a fuse, but he snuffed it out before it had a chance to form fully. “Of course, your highness,” he answered, nodding agreeably.

“When exactly would this take place? You mentioned dusk before, but could you add more specifics?” Aang spoke up. Sokka bit his lip. Aang had no idea how rude he had just sounded, but maybe he did and just didn’t care? He shifted his eyes from Aang’s belligerent stare to the Earth King whose only reaction was to construct a smoother, unbothered exterior.

“Dusk is what I was told, so dusk it shall be,” Kuei said. Reading between the lines, Sokka could tell that Kuei really did not know much more about the mission than what he had already shared. Sokka silently despaired. “If that is all, then I think we should adjourn. I do have other matters to attend to,” Kuei dismissed them. It seemed to Sokka that he was trying to not reveal the extent of his non-knowledge.

He glanced back over at Aang and noted how tightly he gripped his glider. Sokka stepped forward, slightly to the side, for the sake of blocking Kuei’s view of Aang. He bowed slightly and gripped Aang’s wrist behind him to get him to copy Sokka’s actions. He straightened and nodded to the King, leaving the room, towing Aang behind him.

They made it aways out of Kuei’s purview before he turned to regard Aang. He pinched his nose for a bit and then slowly opened his eyes, regaining some of his lost patience. Aang was staring off somewhere at a point beyond him. He grabbed onto Aang’s shoulder and tilted his head, concerned. “Hey. What’s up with you today? Are you alright?” he asked. Aang didn’t respond for a moment and Sokka was about to ask again, but Aang slowly turned his head to look back at Sokka.

His face was lightly scrunched and he glanced down before he shifted his gaze back up. “I don’t know. Maybe,” he spoke, his words stilted. Sokka paused and let Aang gather his thoughts. Aang flickered his gaze, eyes darting out in all directions. His hands were clenching and unclenching at his sides. Sokka’s concern grew. He squeezed Aang’s shoulder and Aang focused on him again. Sokka saw his mouth open and begin to form a word, but he swallowed it back and stepped away from Sokka’s hold. He started walking away without checking to see if Sokka was following behind. Sokka’s shoulders slumped.


	8. ACT I | Reverberation — 高亢

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Playlist
> 
> Apple Music — TBA
> 
> Spotify — TBA

**Day 2 || 11:30AM** **—**   **Zuko**

Zuko stared deeply into the depths of his tea as if in a trance, held captive under waves of indecision. He stayed like that until a hand moved across his face, catching his attention. He sobered.

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” Sokka teased him playfully, his eyes twinkling.

“At least I’m not actually asleep this time,” Zuko replied and batted his hand away.

Sokka snorted inelegantly. “You might as well be,” he said. Zuko studiously ignored his comment.

“Did you—?”

Sokka rolled his neck and his eyes hazed in reminiscence. “I did. It was nearly a disaster; the Earth King was not pleased, but I think it went as well as could be expected,” Sokka informed him, lightly shrugging in a ‘what can you do’ motion. He then pulled out the chair opposite him and slumped into it. “We didn’t get any new information either. I could’ve slept in,” Sokka complained, pushing his hair out of his face restlessly.

“If you were so tired, I could’ve gone instead?” Zuko offered.

“No, it’s fine. You, of all people, definitely need more sleep than I do,” the non-bender waved him off. “So what’s with the whole staring into your cup for the secrets of the universe thing?” he asked, gesturing at the still full cup in-between them.

Zuko ran a hand over his face. “They’re going to keep asking for more than we can give,” Zuko divulged.

“It’s really that bad, huh?” Sokka gave him a sympathetic look.

“Worse,” Zuko answered, looking up at him, unable to hide his tenseness. Sokka gestured at him to continue and so he elaborated his thoughts, “And we’re not even in a position to admit to any weakness. It’s a mess. We shouldn’t have even left considering how unstable things are right now, but it’s not like we can just _not_ show up.” Zuko thinned his lips and then made a frustrated noise.

“I hear you, buddy,” Sokka responded.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

 **Day 2 || 12PM** **—**   **Katara**

Katara noticed Aang idly fiddling with his glider, looking about absently. It was her first time seeing him on his own. She walked over and Aang’s gaze shifted to meet hers. She smiled at him.

◆

**Aang**

“ _How are you_ , Aang?” Katara asked him. It was an innocent inquiry made with no underlying motives, Aang’s grip on his glider tightened anyway.

Annoyance bubbled in his chest. “I’m great, actually,” slipped from his lips in a deceptively easy tone.

“That’s great to hear. It’s so nice to see you. It’s been too long!” she exclaimed. Katara stepped forward to initiate an embrace and he stepped backwards. “O-oh!” she said, surprise and awkwardness coating her voice. She quickly averted her eyes and dropped her arms.

“S-so what—,” she began.

“If you’ll excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be,” he interrupted and started walking away from her. He then paused and added quietly, looking over his shoulder, “I’ll see you later, I guess.”

Aang departed, not waiting for a response.

◆

**Katara**

Katara stayed rooted to where she stood. She wrapped her arms around herself, bereft.

◆       ◆       ◆       ◆

**Aang**

_“Did you even like me. Like, actually properly like me? Or was it all obligation for you?” Suddenly, he was questioning everything about their relationship. “Was any of it real?” he asked no one in particular._

_“I do love you, Aang. Just not the way you want me to,” Katara said shakily. She was probably crying. Aang didn’t turn to check. He couldn’t look at her. “I really care about you,” she continued when he didn’t answer. Aang blinked back the tears that were starting to escape. Why had this happened? Why now? He thought everything was going so well._

_“Aang! Look at me! I didn’t do anything wrong! And I’m so tired of taking care of you. I’m not sorry._ **_I_ ** **_’m not sorry!_ ** _” she had started her speech pleading, but ended up shouting. He heard a thud resound behind; she had probably fallen to the floor. Her sobbing became even more wretched. He still didn’t turn to regard her. His heart was somehow beating when the rest of him was broken to pieces. He felt distanced from himself, like this scene was happening to someone else._

_He tightly clenched his fists and gathered himself. He turned around and finally faced his now ex-girlfriend._ _“I think you should leave,” he spoke, breaking his previous silence._

_“Is that all you have to say to me?” she asked. She had progressed from distressed to furious. Aang didn’t care. He couldn't care. He was empty. His heart had been carved up and there wasn’t anything left in him anymore._

_He didn_ _’t respond to any of Katara’s pleas. He just stared blankly and she eventually left. Only then did Aang allow himself to cry and he didn’t just simply cry; he wailed. He grieved for everything he had ever lost including the latest in the line._

 

◆       ◆       ◆       ◆

 

 **Day 2 || 12PM** **—**   **Toph**

Toph trekked to the place the directions a passerby had described to her and before she could doubt if she was in the right place, Momo had wrapped himself around her neck and started chittering in her ear. She reached into the bag she had brought with her and pulled out a peach. The chittering immediately stopped and Momo swiped the fruit from her in the space of a breath. “Nice to see you too, Momo,” she murmured fondly at him while scratching behind his ears.

“Now… Appa,” she said and as in response to his name, Appa made a grumbling noise. Not needing any more convincing, she headed over. When she was in reach, Appa wasted no time in showing his affection (by slobbering all over her, of course). “I missed you, too,” she said really meaning it. She gripped his fur and leaned her forehead against his massive one.

“I really missed you guys,” she said, softer now.

◇

She rested lazily back against Appa with Momo curled up next to her. While watching the sun move through the sky, Toph contemplated her own life, where she was continually stuck in place. She constantly ran away from her problems, but she always found herself in the same place in the end; it was a futile pattern she couldn’t quit.

Her thoughts mired in this line and kept spinning, but drowsiness from her lack of sleep eventually crept up on her awareness. Her last thoughts were envious lamentations of how the two companions resting next to and under her led such simple, easy lives, but soon she drifted completely into the inky, blackness that was calling out to her.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

 **Day 2 || 4PM** **—**   **Katara**

“Are you allowed to help me with this? Doesn’t it show favoritism or something?” Katara inquired idly, glancing back at Kanna.

“Probably. But I dare someone to tell me when and how I can help my granddaughter,” Kanna replied, flippant.

“As long as you’re sure,” she replied, thoroughly distracted, scanning the papers before her. Her eyes moved to and fro, but the meaning of the words written therein escaped her; she rubbed at her temples and blew out a slow breath. The reconvention hearing of her latest proposal was in a couple of days, but she was making minimal progress in reviewing and refining her plans. She simply had too much in her head clashing about. Her thoughts were a mess, the impending mission never far out of mind.

Her gran had been silently staring at her. The waterbender shot her a pleading look. “I wasn’t going to say anything. I know you’re old enough to handle yourself. I _did_ raise you after all. But anytime, anywhere, I’ll be your listening ear if you need one,” her gran spoke plainly and then settled back in with her own stack of papers, pretending as if she had not said a thing. Katara felt her heart squeeze.

 

◆       ◆       ◆

 

 **Day 2 || 4PM** **—**   **Sokka**

After looking all over for her, spotting Suki’s retreating back was a relief. He ran after her before she got too far ahead of him. Once he got close enough, he called her name and her stride halted. She turned in his direction and waited for him to make his way to her.

He rested his hands on his knees to catch his breath and straightened after a few moments. Suki had her eyebrow quirked in question and he laughed lightly. “Hey so… I was hoping to catch you before everyone met up later,” he said almost breathlessly.

“Well congratulations, you caught me, so what’s up?” Suki questioned him, hand moving to her hip, her tone teasing.

He stared at her for a moment and then cleared his throat, suddenly nervous and not sure the reason. “It’s about the mission,” he started and then paused.

Suki shifted her stance and looked at him more attentively. She seemed a little alarmed at that statement and asked, “Is there a problem?”

He shook his head in response and continued more firmly, “No. No. I won’t be able to oversee the entire mission on the field by myself and I don’t trust anyone else more than you to be my second on the field.” Suki looked taken aback. “I’m going to focus mainly on the Earth King’s safety. I need you to make sure everyone keeps formation and that the communication lines remain clear. So what do you say?” he questioned her.

“Of course, I’ll be your second,” Suki said. “It’s not even a question. You can count on me,” she asserted.

“Oh, that’s a relief to hear. One less thing to worry about,” Sokka said.

“Sure,” Suki agreed.

“So… what are you up to?” he asked.

“Oh um… I need to give some instructions to my warriors before I can leave, so I actually have to be going now. Sorry,” Suki said apologetically and then started backing away.

“Oh. Yeah. Yeah, of course. No worries. You go do that. I’ll… yeah,” he said, gesturing vaguely. Suki only nodded at him indulgently and then disappeared out of sight. “Right, well then,” he mumbled to himself and started making his way home.

 

◆       ◆       ◆       ◆

 

**Toph**

_Toph started to reach for the food laid enticingly upon the table before her, but her mother placed a hand over her arm, halting the movement. She glanced over in askance._

_“We have a very special guest joining us today, Toph,” her mother began, “...and we need you to be on your best behaviour,” her father continued. Their voices were positively beaming rainbows at her as they shared the news. Creepy._

_It was a common enough occurence to invite over special guests to their_ _‘family’ dinners, so Toph had never thought to question the event. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” Toph mumbled as she slumped back and crossed her arms across her chest. Her mother stood up straighter and opened her mouth (no doubt to lecture her about her table manners for the umpteenth time), but was interrupted by the arrival of the mysterious guest in question._

_“Oh! Wei! So glad to see you just as healthy as the last time we talked,” her father gushed eagerly while clasping Wei’s hand. Her father’s eagerness prompted a roll of her eyes. Still, she stood up and made her way to the rest of the party holding out hope that the evening would end up being at least somewhat tolerable._

_“I don’t think you’ve had the pleasure of meeting my dear daughter,” her father said and gestured to her._

_She inwardly sighed and bowed in greeting,_ _“Lovely to meet you, ...Wei was it?”_

_The man before her also bowed,_ _“Wei Zhang, pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He straightened and turned to her mother, “You have a lovely home, Lady Bei Fong.” The comment caused her mother to simper at him in return._

_This was the exact reason she dreaded visiting her parents: situations like this. Stuffy politics and false smiles did nothing but irritate her. However, she did want a relationship with her parents, so she endured._

_They sat at the dinner table, the meal commenced, and this tedious song and dance continued. She managed to tune out of the conversation and the others were content to converse among themselves_ _… until they weren’t._

_“My daughter is a very accomplished earthbender herself. Aren’t you, Toph?” her father spoke. At the mention of her name, she sharply tuned back into the chatter._

_“Better than anyone else alive,” she affirmed, her chin raised in (rightful) pride._

_“Oh that’s so interesting! I, myself, have never managed to move anything larger than a small rock, myself,” the guest laughed in self-deprecation. Toph cocked her eyebrow, entirely unimpressed._

_“But you’ve become the youngest head of your company! You should be more proud of what you’ve accomplished at such a young age,” her mother shamelessly flattered. “Don’t you think that’s a momentous achievement, Toph?” her mother asked her._

_She narrowed her eyes at her mother, but curtly agreed,_ _“Sure.”_

_“There you see! Even our hard to impress daughter thinks you outstanding,” her father finished, sounding self-satisfied._

_“Well if your daughter says so… it must be true,” the stranger japed and then turned in her direction and didn’t bother looking away. And then suddenly, it dawned on her what was actually happening, in front of her no less. A fury erupted in her, quicker than ever before._

_She coughed coquettishly, instantly capturing the attention of the table._ _“If you all would excuse me, I need some air,” she stated. She saw Wei beginning to rise out of his seat, “Alone,” she added firmly. She left before anyone could stop her._

_Her pace was brisk and she was in the gardens of the estate before she realized it. The frigid air cooled her rage, but it did nothing to quiet the panic building inside._

_She quickly catalogued the guards in her view and their positions. Toph started walking towards the residential wing in as calm a pace as she was capable. She maintained that facade until she reached a blind spot and then she quickly duck in through an entryway only known to the family themselves. She got very lucky in the fact that there were currently no staff strolling through the hallways or inside the rooms._

_Toph estimated that she only had about an hour before her mother came to her rooms to scold her in private; her parents would be too busy with the dinner and soothing their_ _‘special’ guest to bother with her yet. She scowled._

_Toph was packed and ready for travel within moments; it was an ease that came out of years of packing as quickly and discreetly as possible. Now that she had her things, there was no great reason to remain as stealthy as she had been trying to before._

_She came out the way she had come in from and ran in a straight line to the walls lining the property; those couldn_ _’t hope to stop her. She had already caught the notice of the guards, but they also couldn’t do a thing. She was free within moments._

◆       ◆

_“Toph?” Zuko exclaimed, bewildered._

_“Sparky,” she responded with a bravado she didn’t quite feel, setting her suitcase down._

◆       ◆       ◆       ◆ 

****Day 2 || 2:30PM** **—**  Toph**

Toph awoke to the sound of twinkling laughter. “Did you rest well?” Aang asked her, half amused, half-genuinely curious, the smile clear in his voice.

“Why don’t you find out for yourself. Might as well be rested for tonight,” she replied and patted the spot next to her, the one not occupied by Momo, who was snoring away loudly.

Aang didn’t hesitate at the invitation, but he took his time getting comfortable before he spoke further, “You know, it’s been such a long time since we’ve actually seen each other.”

She was amused. “I feel like I heard more tales about you from your fans than actually seen you, yourself,” she teased. It always made him so awkward when he was reminded that he had actual living, breathing admirers (hordes of them actually).

He choked (right on cue). “I’m sure you’re exaggerating,” he said.

“And I’m sure you’re as modest as ever,” she returned. Aang made a protesting noise next to her. “Though that’s not a bad thing, I guess,” she smiled at him.

“Er… yeah,” Aang laughed nervously and then shifted the conversation, “Did they give you any trouble?”

“Not this time, no,” Toph denied.

“Give them time, then,” Aang quipped.

“That’s enough worrying out of you. It’s nap-time; the only one who hasn’t gotten that memo yet is you,” Toph said.

“Okay. Okay. I’ll try,” Aang put his hands up placatingly. Toph nestled further into Appa’s fur; pleased, and then let herself relax entirely.

“This is much more peaceful than the rest of my day,” Aang murmured quietly enough that Toph barely heard the words.

She hummed in response, too comfortable to reply more coherently. She dozed off again, faintly hearing Momo’s chatter and more of Aang’s laughter warming the edges of her awareness before she drifted off fully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of writing this fic has just kinda felt like playing on the jungle gym by myself, so when the realization sets in, every so often, that living, breathing, real people actually have read these ramblings, my brain just kind of short-circuits a little. 
> 
> Adding on the fact that I have no prior writing experience before this, I’m surprised someone other than me has read it at all??? Something I created entirely from my own imagination has been conveyed and enjoyed by someone across the world... the mind boggles. 
> 
> So I’m sincerely thankful for anyone who has read this fic. It makes me so happy to be able to share it ♡  
>   
> 
> 
> * * *
> 
>   
> **Expect updates to be slow. My laptop is currently broken :( so I'm making do by borrowing others' when I can :)  
> 
> 
> * * *
> 
> ### Beta Reader
> 
> If you are at all interested in becoming a beta for this fic (it currently doesn't have one), please drop me a line as I am searching for help. ♥  
>  **EDIT:** I've found one, thank you!


	9. ACT I | The Long Night [A-Side] — 经久不衰的晚 [端点]

**Day 2 || 8PM** **—**   **Katara**

Dusk had fallen long ago. Now there was nothing to accompany them, but stars. Not that Katara could even so much as reach for them. The world around, cloaked in a never-ending fog, made it impossible. In all directions, she could not make anything out of her surroundings. Only the waning moon, peeking through the gloom, shined its radiance down upon her.

It was a thin comfort. Anxiety was all that she could feel, the only impression capable of taking space. Her nerves screamed at her to disperse the fog and dampen her malaise, yet she crushed the impulse, unwilling to draw any attention. Her arms, unmoved, hung limply by her sides; Katara chewed her lip viciously instead.

She glanced around nervously despite the fact that no one had come around and no one probably would. Katara just couldn’t untense her muscles or quiet her mind. She had thought that being removed from the main mission would have been less nerve-racking, but she found the opposite to be the truth.

With nothing to busy herself, Katara worried. Because, in her position, how could she do anything but? Her mind kept dwelling on the others… what they were doing, if they were safe, if the mission was proceeding as planned. She kept coming up with worst-case scenarios. Time ticked on, stillness persisted, and her worries only rose. It was a terrible cycle she could do nothing to break. Still and silent, she waited on.

◆       ◆

 **Day 2 || 8:30PM** **—**   **Toph**

Toph was beginning to get a crick in her neck from the awkward angle she was stuck in, half buried in the wall as she was.

In contrast to her prone figure, Aang paced, on edge, in front of her. He stopped ( _finally_ ) and turned, facing her. "Anything yet?" he asked, his speech hushed into only whispers. Kuei’s bear whined at him as if in response. Of course, that prompted the airbender to lavish even more attention on it.

Toph rolled her eyes, annoyance spiking, and snorted. "No. Like the last ten times you asked, there hasn't been so much as an armadillo-monkey walking our way," she replied, crankily. The mission had barely begun and she was completely fed up with the whole situation already.

She had had enough of sitting around, or in her case— entombing herself and not doing anything. She wanted to move! How had she been stuck with lookout duty? She observed the tense figure patrolling a little ways beyond and groaned internally; that was why. She cared deeply about her friends, of course, but right now the waterbender / airbender duo were driving her up the, not figurative, wall.

"I'm going to go back in and see what the hold-up is." He disappeared before Toph could say anything in response. That bear started complaining once again, and Toph blew the hair out of her face. Great.

◆       ◆

 **Day 2 || 7:30PM** **—**   **Sokka**

Once Sokka’s gaze snagged on the Earth King’s expression, he couldn’t banish it from his mind. It was a subdued kind of triumph that had taken residence in his eyes and smugness that was settling into the curve of his smile. He didn’t know to what end this mission Kuei was chasing, but he knew he didn’t want to understand.

He gazed into the distance and attempted to regain his focus. The bad weather that had rolled in was less than ideal, but it’s not like anyone had any choice in the matter ( _besides the Earth King, of course_ ). The had ridden for quite a while, but the sight that came to greet them was more than underwhelming: a small village that had fallen into disrepair. What a strange location for a meeting... But that wasn’t his concern right now.

The swordmaster straightened and turned around, shouldering the mantle of team leader. No one said a word, waiting on him. He sent out a fast change of hand signals and four of his friends split into two groups, rushing out of sight, leaving him with only Zuko and the Earth King. He curled his fingers into a fist and then gestured at the rest of the trio that remained. Zuko nodded at him and they also departed.

◆       ◆

 **Day 2 || 9PM** **—**   **Suki**

Suki crept, silent as the dead, across the dilapidated hallway. Following the faint noise she had heard earlier, she made her way to an abandoned maintenance shaft underneath the surface. She didn’t pause to marvel at the discovery. She slowly, but surely making her way through. She continued until she could make out the faint stirrings of speech. She paused to listen and discern the direction. Heedlessly, the non-bender followed it. Eventually, the speech came out almost clear and she had even found enough of a vantage point to see its source. She took in the scene revealed to her.

 

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**Day 2 || 7PM **—**  Aang**

Aang looked out on the night sky they were flying through. His grip on Appa’s reins only tightened, tension buzzing relentlessly along his nerves.

Normally, when he had such a large party riding with him and Appa, the atmosphere was the exact opposite: loud, boisterous, and lively with laughter intertwining the air. This party was precisely none of that; it didn’t even come an iota close. Anticipation of the bad sort was the only sentiment shared.

He absently patted Appa, who rumbled at him happily in response, the only one who would presently greet him so. Aang’s brows knit together.

 

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**Day 2 || 7:45PM **—**  Suki**

Suki signalled behind her and then peeked over her shoulder to see Aang take off into the air. She then focused forward. Her first objective was to search for easy escape points.

Suki dashed through and fro, and during that time, the shape of this village gradually revealed itself to her. It wasn’t very large, but it was laid out in a puzzling manner. It also looked like it had been abandoned more recently than she had initially thought and it was definitely left in a hurry. There were dishes left in sinks, full closets of clothes were plentiful, there was even medicine left behind. Some kind of emergency surely must have occurred, but she didn’t have the faintest clue of what it could have been.

Aang touched down before her. She gazed at him expectantly. He didn’t hesitate to launch into his report. “Things are going as planned. The Earth King safely made his way to the destination point. Zuko and Sokka are accompanying him, all as planned.”

“That’s a relief. What about the border squad?”

“I’m going to check on them now. I figured the main trio was the priority.”

“They are. Thanks, Aang.”

He took off without another word. She continued her search, more confident now that she was assured of the success of the mission so far.

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 **Day 2 || 7:40PM** **—**   **Toph**

Despite the utter lack of any action, a fact that Toph was still sore about, she remained on edge. Katara was a still presence, but definitely not a peaceful one; the earthbender could feel the waves of anxiety radiating off of her. Unwilling to provoke the waterbender’s ire, Toph didn’t dare disturb her, but her tension only added to Toph’s and then Toph’s tension would add to Katara’s and then....

But Toph, unlike Katara, had something to focus on. She had a fringe awareness of some of the area and most importantly— the rendezvous spot. She kept her focus anchored there. Kuei was making his way to his desired point while Sokka and Zuko carefully tailed his figure.

She could also sense Suki and Aang touch down at a point far from the other two and then promptly split up.

So things were proceeding smoothly so far… Her mouth twisted. Technically, their part was a success so far as well, but it certainly didn’t feel like one. It almost seemed as if it was tenser here than the main mission itself.

◆       ◆

 **Day 2 || 8:30PM** **—**   **Zuko**

An uneasy silence swirled oppressively between. Zuko clenched his teeth as he took in the scene, safely hidden from the stoic figures facing the Earth King. From his position, he peered past the wide expanse of the Earth King’s back.

The opposing couple glanced at each other, communicating something only between the two of them. “So what do you say?” Kuei interrupted them. Their looks darted his way. One of the figures came forward, pursed her lips, and then, finally, nodded

Kuei clasped his hands in front of him in glee. “Excellent. That’s wonderful to hear, now to—” his speech was cut off. Another figure erupted out of the earth and a sword kissed the fragile skin of the Earth King’s throat. It happened before either he or Sokka could react. Kuei visibly froze in place.

“Come out of hiding with your hands raised. We know the Earth King brought bodyguards with him,” the leading figure spat. Zuko felt anxiety take a vice grip of his heart and he did as told. He spotted Sokka doing the same. “Drop your weapons,” another instruction rang out. He heard the clang of a sword drop to the ground and he reluctantly dropped his dao swords as well. He didn’t turn to check-up on the water tribe warrior, unwilling to take any chances with the Earth King’s life on the line.

“Why are you doing this? I am regretful that I brought company with me when I was told not to, but surely this is unnecessary?” Kuei protested. The Earth King’s entreat was ignored.

“You will stay where you stand or we can not guarantee his safety,” the command was directed at them. “You lost your right to negotiate when you broke the conditions of this meeting,” this rebuke addressed Kuei.

The figure holding Kuei started to slowly back away, a detached expression painting his face and the casual threat of his hostage’s life hanging by a thread. Zuko could do nothing but helplessly watch his ward get further and further away until the shadows completely engulfed his figure.

Soon only darkness remained; Zuko continued to stare. But this wasn’t the end. He won’t let it be. He shifted his eyes back to the opposing figures blocking their way forward. He waited until he estimated that the kidnapper had gotten far enough away to be out of hearing distance, and then as if planned, Sokka and Zuko turned on the other figures. Flame leapt out, angry and hissing and steel clashed, only one objective burning in their minds.

 

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**Day 2 || 6:20PM**

He led the party into the meeting chamber. Kuei’s welcoming stance greeted them. “I’m so gladdened to see all of you accompanying me on this momentous day.”

Kuei beamed at them all. His friends only stared back in varying states of reluctance. Zuko came forward and greeted the King, subtly prompting the others to follow. And they did, but none were too happy about it.

 

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****Day 2 || 9:10PM** **—**  Suki**

Kuei was sweating profusely, his wrists shackled, and his face drained of all color. "Why have you taken me here? What do you want with me? Who are you? Where are my Dai Li?" he shouted despite his disadvantaged situation. His assailants, of which Suki counted three, didn't bother to answer him.

Why was the Earth King here? Before she could delve into all the questions that that revelation stirred up, two of the figures began moving towards the door, leaving just one to guard the room.

She began the formulation of a rescue plot, but other questions started whirling. The assailants hadn’t tried to silence Kuei. There was nothing to indicate any sort of gag. And in the time she had been watching, he had been making quite the racket, which is how she was able to find him so easily in the first place. Yet they didn’t take any steps to quiet him; there wasn’t any acknowledgement of him at all. It was truly strange.

The enemy wanted Kuei to be found. With the utter lack of any security, they were almost certainly counting on it. But why was that the case? The most logical conclusion to this train of thought was that it was a trap and Kuei was the bait. But then if Kuei was the bait, then who was the intended target?

Suki didn’t like this. She didn’t like this _at all_. They were in danger. Of this, Suki was growing increasingly certain. She had to get to the others, to warn them, to get them out, _something_.

Submerged in her increasingly panicked thoughts, Suki didn’t see it coming. Her distraction cost her; the warrior didn't notice the blow coming until it hit. Her consciousness registered all-consuming pain and then… nothing.

◆       ◆

 **Day 2 || 8:45PM** **—**   **Sokka**

Sokka ran after the retreating figure. Anger shadowing his footsteps, he pressed on faster and faster until he, at last, caught up to the escaping attacker. He enthusiastically leapt at the enemy, catching him off-guard. They fell, together, to the floor into a graceless heap. He latched on as tightly as he was capable, absolutely refusing to let the enemy get away when he had him in his clutches. His opponent struggled against him, but Sokka didn’t let up an itch. He stubbornly kept on.

Eventually, the person under him stopped struggling completely.

◆       ◆

 **Day 2 || 8:40PM** **—**   **Zuko**

He knew Sokka was struggling on his own as well, but he didn’t have to take heed of him. Sokka could handle himself. He needed to keep his concern on the enemy _he_ was fighting. She wasn’t making it easy on him either, dodging lithely through the air. This fight reminded him of the bouts he would occasionally have with Aang, the way she would dance out of his reach. It was beginning to get very, very frustrating for him.

Then he heard the distinctive sounds of the chase. Sokka and his enemy had departed the courtyard, leaving him alone with his. He didn’t like the fact that they had been split up. The enemy woman before him smirked at him when she realized, and Zuko liked that even less. He hated the feeling of playing into the hands of these people.

She had done nothing but avoid his attacks so far, and no attacks had come his way. He just didn’t understand what they were after. This dance between them seemed never-ending and their aims seemed unfathomable.

◆       ◆

 **Day 2 || 8:42PM** **—**   **Toph**

"As always no one wants to listen to Toph." she sighed, resigned. She sank into the ground soundlessly and made her way to where she could sense Katara standing. The time for waiting around was over. The plan was shot to hell at this point anyway; there can't be too much harm in her doing her own thing, she reasoned.

“Katara! We have to move,” she whisper-shouted at the keyed-up waterbender. Toph didn’t wait for her questions; she just ran on ahead, confident that Katara would follow.

“What about the bear?” Katara was quick to point out. The earthbender slapped her forehead.

◆       ◆

 **Day 2 || 9:40PM** **—**   **Aang**

He wondered what such a robust jail-cell was doing in a place like this, but not for long when he saw who was trapped in it.

“Suki?” he questioned, thoroughly shocked.

Aang quickly moved to get her out of her binds. She rubbed at the red marks on her wrists.

She glanced up at him, gaze urgent. “There’s no time. We need to get everyone _out_ of here.” He was about to question her further, but she just gave him a look.

◆       ◆

 **Day 2 || 9:55PM** **—**   **Suki**

Suki’s gaze darted around like she could materialize her friends’ figures out of empty air, but only featureless sand greeted her eyes.

“Toph _was_ here when I left,” Aang scratched his head. He readied his glider.

Suki quickly set a hand on top of his arm, stilling him. She frowned. “We’re not splitting up. It’s a bad idea when we don’t know where anyone else is. Come on, let’s check the perimeter.” Aang nodded in understanding.

As they walked on, the uncertainty of what they would do if they didn’t find the others went unsaid.

◆       ◆

 **Day 2 || 10:25PM** **—**   **Zuko**

The woman tensed and leapt at him. Zuko quickly side-stepped and swung her around with the hand he had grabbed her with.

Face to face with the woman he had been tracking, he set about getting some answers. "Who are you? Where did you come from?" Unexpectedly, she started to laugh. Zuko was not amused. "Do you think this is a laughing matter? I asked you a question that I fully expect an answer to." Zuko demanded, confusion surging.

The woman leaned in closer to his face, smile wide as if unaware of the situation she was in. "The Phoenix Alliance says hello," she said in a sotto voice. Before the uttered phrase could fully sink in, the woman's eyes rolled up into her skull and she went limp.

Zuko didn’t react in time to catch her before she crumpled to the floor, but he wasted no time in checking for a pulse. He then slumped back, head in his hands, the foreboding feeling that had built now center stage.

◆       ◆

 **Day 2 || 10:32PM** **—**   **Sokka**

He rushed to where he could spot Aang’s prone figure.

◆

 **Day 2 || 10:40PM** **—**   **Zuko**

“Zuko!”

The sudden shout of his name from a familiar source stole his attention at once. Sokka was rushing over to him, dragging Aang behind him. Suki was right behind him, Toph and Katara at her heels.

Suki grabbed his hand. “We have to go. _Now_.” Zuko could do nothing else but follow his friends.

 

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****Day 3 || 1AM** **—**  Iroh**

"It's a little late to be visiting nephew. Some of us need our beauty sleep." Iroh said jokingly when he opened his door. He lost his cheer when he registered Zuko's face and all the people that had apparently accompanied him to Iroh's chambers. Iroh sobered. This couldn’t be good news.

"What is wrong, nephew?" Iroh asked. Zuko closed his eyes as if praying. The rest of his friends looked listless. Suki had her arms wrapped around herself, staring to the side sightlessly. Aang was nervously strumming his fingers on his staff,  his expression shuttered, hollow-eyed. Katara eyes were rimmed a vibrant red and she tightly gripped the arm that Sokka had around her shoulders as if it was the only thing keeping her upright. Sokka’s head was bowed, expression shadowed, hidden from view. Even Toph looked shaken.

"The Earth King is dead," Zuko said almost tonelessly as if informing him of the weather and not the death of the ruler of the entire Earth Kingdom.

Iroh paused at this pronouncement, processed, and then opened the door wider. "Why don't you all come in. I'll make some tea."

He had a feeling that it was about to be a long night.

 

 

 

 

◆

 

###  END OF **ACT I**

 

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what do you guys think of the story so far? ★
> 
> [Latest Kintsugi Update](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/730172)

**Author's Note:**

> No comments please.


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